


More Than Meets The Eye

by GameForDays



Category: Women's Soccer RPF
Genre: F/F
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-07-09
Updated: 2015-12-06
Packaged: 2018-02-08 02:38:44
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Underage
Chapters: 21
Words: 79,886
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1923600
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/GameForDays/pseuds/GameForDays
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Badass Tobin Heath is feared, lusted after, and known for breaking hearts. She doesn't care for anyone but herself. She and her best friend Hope weren't expected to stick with one person. They weren't capable of falling in love...or so everyone thought. Tobin had never been turned down a day since she came out until Alex Morgan walked into the picture. The plan was to hit it and quit it, and be rewarded for her actions, but being rejected by the school's star soccer player wasn't something she had anticipated either. She thought she had the blue eyed girl figured out, but she soon comes to realize that nothing about the girl is as it seems.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. The Bet

Tobin Heath pulled her motorcycle into a handicap spot closest to the building. Surely whoever was handicapped at this school wouldn’t miss it too much. If they did, then they needed to work on not being so helpless that they can’t even walk the 20 yards into building like the rest of them. She might have almost run over a few people getting there. She probably got a few peoples toes too, but they’ll live.

Once stepping of her bike, Tobin immediately pulled out a cigarette and started smoking. It was a bad habit, but she told herself she could quit whenever she wanted to. As she walked along the sidewalk, she took note of the fearful looks she received from everyone.

And with good reason were they scared.

Tobin Heath single-handedly destroyed more kids than divorce. She even brought one teacher into early retirement. Poor old woman was broken down mentally and physically due to the reckless girl’s inappropriate behavior and ability to get inside peoples’ minds.

Let’s not even get started on her police record. Theft, breaking and entering, harassment, and public soliciting to name a few.

All in all, Tobin Heath was a badass and she wanted everyone to know it.

The girl smirked to herself when she noticed another dark figure approaching her.

"Solo," she greeted.

"Heath," the girl countered. Wordlessly the tall dark-haired girl asked for the cancer stick. She took a long drag and handed it back to her slightly shorter friend. "I see you decided to come to school today," she commented, blowing out the smoke from her system.

"Yeah, I like to mix it up a little. Keep you on your toes." Tobin adjusted the beanie on her head, looking around the courtyard. She hated this place with a passion. Everything about it really. From the teachers, to the sports, to the people. Well some of the people that is. Hope was her only friend and Kelley she guessed was a cool person too.

They wandered around aimlessly for a while until Tobin stopped suddenly.

"Bro, who is that?" she asked, her arm flying to Hope’s stomach. Her friend stopped to glare at her, forcefully removed the arm that momentarily knocked the wind out of her. When she saw that Tobin was in a daze, she looked up and followed her eyesight.

"That’s Christen Press. Dude she’s been going here for like, ever," Hope said in a ‘duh’ voice.

"Not that one, the next to O’Hara…"

"Oh that’s Alex Morgan, soccer prodigy and honor student. She moved here before Christmas break," Hope explained. Tobin looked on at the scene in front of her. The girl- Alex- was laughing along with her friends, with the arm of Servando Carrasco slung around her shoulder.

She would have to be lying to herself if she said that Alex wasn’t beautiful. She was stunning even. Long brown hair that flowed down her back. Nice toned legs. Killer smile. Good tan. She had it all.

"How come I didn’t know about this?" Tobin asked, slightly offended that such a pretty secret was kept from her.

"I mean, you would know if you ever came to school for more than an hour."

"I came yesterday!"

"For 30 minutes and they weren’t even consecutive! You went to first for what, six minutes, then second and third combined for like fifteen minutes, and the rest of the time was in between bells."

"Yeah, but all my teachers still gave me homework! Every single one of those bitches that I passed had something to say to me."

"You poor thing…"

The pair gave each other one look, laughed and kept walking. Tobin’s mind was still somewhat on the girl she had just learned about, but for the most part, it was on the next girl she would have sex with.

..

It was in between third and fourth period when Tobin walked out of the janitors, leaving the girl she just fucked alone to get dressed again. Immediately she felt a body crash into hers. Not hard enough to make her fall down, but just enough to piss her off.

"Watch where you’re going!" She snapped.

"No, you watch where you’re going. You bumped into me!" A raspy voice argued.

Tobin was caught off guard by the fact that whoever bumped into wasn’t on their knees and apologizing. No one has ever spoken back to her like that. Did this person not know who she was?

She whipped her head around with a scowl, putting herself face to face with the other contender. It was that not so new girl…Alex. One thing she failed to notice earlier was that Alex had these wonderfully hypnotizing piercing blue eyes. It was like looking into the ocean. An ocean that was about to be pissed in because this girl's actions were inexcusable.

"Do you know who I am?" Tobin asked, jabbing a finger into Alex’s chest, making her back up against the lockers. She was even more infuriated when the soccer player slapped her hand away. Instead, the badass used her arms to trap the brunette. She didn’t give Alex a chance to reply. "I’m Tobin fucking Heath. I don’t know if anyone has ever told you this, but I run this school. Got it, princess?" Her face got dangerously closer to Alex’s with every word.

"I don’t give a fuck who you are! You bumped into me and then you proceeded to be rude. Now you could make this difficult, or you could just apologize so I can be on my way." Who does she think she is?!

"I don’t apologize."

"Then I guess we’re done here." Alex forcefully removes Tobin’s arm so she could get free. The crowd that had gathered around them split like the red sea to let her through. Tobin stood still in awe at how everything went down. She had just been told off… She, the Tobin Heath, had just been told off!

The school’s badass watched the brunette leave, her gaze switching from glaring at the back of Alex’s head and her ponytail swishing side to side, to checking out her ass which she had to admit was very nice. Suddenly she became very conflicted and the line between lust and hate thinned.

"The fuck is everyone staring at?!" She barked. The people in the hallway scattered like roaches. All but one other person had left.

That other person was Hope Solo. Tobin was about to asked her what just happened, as she was still pretty shocked, but her friend was too busy getting her seven goddamn chuckles in to even hear a question if asked one. Tobin shook her head. Some friend she was.

"Dude!" The taller of the two tried to say more, but she couldn’t and burst out laughing some more. "Oh that was great…" she sighed, wiping some tears from her eyes.

"Shut up, Solo."

Hope laughed even more. She had never seen anyone give her friend a run for her money like Alex just had. If only she could have gotten it on camera.

..

Alex plopped down in the seat of her 4th period class with a huff. She was still mad Tobin Heath had blamed the collision on her, and then tried to intimidate and humiliate her by getting all up in her face. She was innocent and just because the little wannabe rebel was too proud to admit it, it didn’t give her the right to be so cruel.

Actually furious would be a better description of how she felt right now.

"Well if you weren’t famous before, you’re a legend now," Kelley O’Hara said taking seat next to her friend.

"What are you talking about, Kel? I’m seriously not in the mood.."

"No one has ever stood up to Tobin before. I imagine nerds everywhere are praising you as we speak," her freckled friend joked. This only got a small smile from Alex.

She really didn’t want to have a problem with the school’s biggest ‘badass’. There was already so much stuff she had to put up with at home. Alex was constantly stressed that she would make the wrong move, say the wrong thing, not be back home in time… And then there was her mother. It was too much.

"You should know that she’s in this class." Alex knew who Kelley was talking about and groaned, attracting the attention of a few students.

"Fuck my life," she muttered.

"But don’t worry she might not even show up. She hardly ever does…"

For the first twenty minutes of class Kelley’s words had been true. Key words: had been. During the middle of Mrs. Rodriguez’s speech, none other than Tobin Heath swaggered into the classroom looking completely careless and a little high.

"How nice of you to join us, Miss Heath."

"Aww, Melissa you’re going to make me blush," Tobin jokes. She’s the only one laughing. Everyone else in the class looks on worried at what might happen next. Another episode involving the resource officers? A verbal slaying of some kid whom she had no reason to be mad at, but she didn't like the way he looked at her? "Sorry I haven’t been present much but you know how it is."

"That’s Mrs. Rodriguez to you," the teacher says, showing no emotion and trying to keep her cool. The child always wanted to make a scene and cause trouble. She couldn't decide whether to pity her parents or blame them for how the child acted. "I take it you’re not prepared once again," she inquired. "Considering you lack even a pencil."

Tobin dug around in her jeans, pretending to look for a writing utensil. She pulled out a gold lighter. “Ha oops, that’s not it.”

"Why am I not surprised?" her teacher deadpanned.

"Um…yes, see what had happened was uh, my sister ate my homework. And uh I think i used the only pencil i had, to roast marshmallows with the pack of wolves i live with.. Sorry." This gets a laugh from everyone but Alex. Yes it was funny she supposed, but Alex did not like Tobin, therefore she would not laugh.

"Please find your seat." The ‘badass’ didn’t comment any further and made her way towards the back. She didn’t notice Alex because the brunette had her head down on the desk. Not to hide from Tobin cause she certainly wasn’t scared, but because as this day progressed her head started to pound more and more. A migraine was forming and she prayed it wouldn't worsen. Last time she had a migraine she couldn't see for three days.

..

Practice sucked for Alex. Every header she did sent her ears ringing, but its not like she could just stop. Cal was her dream college. Her mother went there and so she would too.

"So why are we here?" Tobin asked Hope who was a little ahead of her, but still not visible by anyone for the were hidden behind the bleachers. A cig rested between her lips but she had yet to light it. She was too lazy to do it.

"I told you, I watch the soccer team practice everyday…" It was obvious that her tall dark haired friend was distracted.

"Watch the team or watch Kelley?" she asked with a smirk. She got her answer when Hope shrugged. Tobin figured she had done enough of looking around at the scenery and decided to watch some soccer herself. She was quite impressed with the skill level of the team. But then again what would she know about the sport? She _assumed_ they were good judging by the fancy foot work and bullet placed in the back of the net.

She also spotted some people she knew. Tobin wasn't friends with them for sure, but she certainly knew not to fuck with them. There was Abby Wambach: almost six foot and packed with muscle. Then there was Ashlyn Harris: also almost six foot and equally buff. And of course there was Kelley, simply because Hope would kick her ass if she did anything to her.

Her jaw dropped for the second time today when she saw Alex Morgan. She was shirtless (sports bra on of course), sweat dripping down her face and gliding down her taut stomach.

"Shit.." Tobin mumbled.

"Tongue tied?" Tobin composed herself, straightening her back and closing her mouth.

"Please," she scoffed. "I don’t get tongue tied."

"Sure," Hope drawled. "So Alex is pretty beast," she alleged after a moment of silence between the two. She watched as Tobin shrugged, not taking her eyes of the field. "It kinda sucks that she’s like the only chick in school that won’t sleep with you." Hope smirked when Tobin glared at her.

"I can get anyone to sleep with me," the shorter of the two replied confidently.

"I’m feeling a bet coming on."

"What’re we betting exactly?" Tobin crossed her arms and tried to act nonchalant.

"If you get Alex to sleep with you by the end of soccer season, I’ll give you two hundred bucks. If I win the bet, you pay me two hundred. Deal?"

Tobin thought about the proposition for a moment. She could use an extra two hundred to get some new cycle gear she wanted. Plus she got paid to have sex. It’s like prostitution, but its not.

"Hell yeah." The two shook hands.


	2. Detention Ain't That Bad

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Slow and steady wins the race right? Wrong. Deadlines to meet, people to sleep with, persistence is the way to go...

Alex had finished cooking dinner by 5:30, finished her homework by 7, and was at the hospital to meet her mother by 7:30. This was a routine she had been doing ever since their second week of living in Diamond Bar. If she stuck to this routine, more specifically the making dinner for her dad part, she would receive minimal pain.

Ever since Pamela Morgan was diagnosed with cancer, things haven’t been the same between her and her father. He started drinking more, smoking and doing illegal substances.

Alex never thought there would come a day when her father would hit her, but it happened. With no apology or a single backwards glance. So she did everything in her power to please him and made sure she stayed out of his way. She felt that he blamed her no matter well he knew that things like that couldn't be controlled.

No one knew this, not even Kelley who she had grown so close to in these last few months at DBHS.

She was going to keep it that way. No one needed to know her business. She didn’t want everyone’s pity. She could take care of things on her own.

"Hey Alex, do I even have to ask why you’re here?" she receptionist, Amanda, spoke to her as she walked out of the elevator on the fourth floor. Alex gave her a small smile.

"How is she?"

"She’s good. But she just took her medicine so she’ll be out soon." The soccer player nodded, heading to room 412.

The sight of her mother in a hospital bed always made her want to cry, but she tried to be strong, because she knew that’s what her mother wanted. Her mother didn’t want any of her daughters to cry for her.

Pam had lost a significant amount of weight, her skin was paler, and her hair was gone, but she still had a smile on her face.

"Hey Ma," Alex said, walking over to the bed to wrap her arms around the woman.

"Hey sweetie, I missed you," Pam said, smiling at her daughter. "How was school today?"

"Awful. There’s this girl Tobin, she thinks she runs the freaking school! Her attitude is just, ugh! I can’t even begin to describe my hatred her." Alex wanted mentally chastised herself for getting so flustered over Tobin when she wasn’t even in the room, but she couldn’t help.

“‘Love your enemy. Do good to those who curse you,’” her mother quoted. “You should try to talk it out with her,” she suggested, fighting off a smile. Her daughter never got this flustered about just any mean person.

"Ma, no one ‘talks it out’ anymore," the young Morgan said like it was the most obvious thing in the world.

"Well just don’t go around picking fights. You know how much i don't like that."

"I don't like it either. Don’t worry, I’m not much of a fighter," Alex said quietly. Her mother noticed this instantly and grabbed her hand.

"How are things at home?"

"They’re great," she said unconvincingly. She really didn’t want her mother to stress over the abuse she was getting at home. She had her own health that she should be worried about. Once her mom got okay, everything would go back to normal. "I’ll be 18 in a month. I can last that long. Then I’ll be headed to Cal." She plastered on a fake smile.

Pam smiled at the stubbornness of her daughter. They were so much alike it was scary sometimes.

..

*The next day*

Alex grimaced as she watched her friends Sydney Leroux and Kristie Mewis giving each other love faces from across the table. They had been going out for like two years, but they were still in the honeymoon phase. Sickeningly sweet is what it was. It made her lose her appetite.

"Can you two focus on something other than each other for once?" Lauren Cheney asked, as she was just about as fed up with the PDA as Alex. The couple didn’t hear and continued with what they were doing.

The cafeteria got scary quiet.

"Um…Alex?" Heather O’Reilly asked.

"Yeah, HAO?"

"I just thought I should let you know that Tobin Heath is headed this way right now, more than likely for you."

The forward turned around and sure enough, Tobin (blacked out in combat boots, skinnies, and a v-neck) was, in fact, heading towards the group’s table, her eyes locked solely on Alex.

“Ladies…” she greeted the soccer players. “Alex.” The girl frowned as she had not told the other girl her name. Rumors must have been spreading more than she had imagined.

“Heath. Did you come here to apologize?” she asked getting straight to the point. This made the badass smile.

“Quite the opposite, babe-” “Don’t call me that.” “I don’t apologize remember?” Alex crossed her arms over her chest. If Tobin had a point she needed to get to it quickly because her patience was wearing thin. “I actually wanted to ask you out.”

The silence that had taken over the cafeteria was replaced with gasps left and right. Though Tobin Heath was a player, she had never actually gone out on a date. Yet here she was asking out the girl who just yesterday, had told her off.

“No.” The soccer player said without hesitation.

That was the third-first that had happened since Alex Morgan moved to DBHS; Tobin Heath had been rejected.

“Alright, I’ll accept your decision for now. But you should know that when I see something I want, I take it.”

Tobin Heath failed to mention that she was also fucking persistent. Alex wished someone had told her that beforehand.

..

The badass had asked the soccer player out every chance she got.

The second attempt was made in between class changes, when Tobin had snatched Alex’s book out of her hand and carried them for her. At first the soccer player thought she was being mugged, but she then realized it was the badass’ attempt at chivalry…if you could call it that.

“A pretty little thang like you shouldn’t have to lift a finger,” was her justification.

The third attempt was during a presentation that Alex was doing in a class they shared. Tobin held up a huge sign that said ‘Alex Morgan, will you go out with me?’ with hearts all over it. This got her sent to the office. It slowed her down, but it certainly didn’t stop her.

Attempts four through seven ended with the soccer player saying no as well.

And that pretty much brought them to the current situation.

..

“The sexual tension in this room is killing me,” Kelley commented. Alex glared at her best friend, while Tobin grinned, liking the thought of doing anything sexual with the forward. Hell that’s what the bet was about wasn’t it?

“I can’t believe I’m in this shithole, I have to get home. I’m so dead. So so dead.” The soccer player mumbled to herself, adding on that they might as well say goodbye to her forever.

“Calm down princess, detention ain’t that bad,” Tobin said, propping her feet on top of the desk across from the one she sat in.

“I’m in here because of you!” Somehow the badass had managed to make the sprinkler system in the library go off in another attempt to get Alex to go out with her. The forward was studying in free period with Kelley and Lauren, and Abby had just walked through the door when they went off. Since they were the only ones in the library, all of them got blamed.

“Shhh!” the teacher scolded.

“We could have avoided all of this if you had just agreed to go out with me,” she pointed out. Alex rolled her eyes and Lauren decided she needed to speak up.

“Why don’t you just leave her alone? She doesn’t want to go out with you.”

“Ms. Cheney.”

“Sorry Mr. Brunner. I’m just trying to keep them quiet,” she lied.

“I have to get out of here,” Alex mumbled, her eyes shooting to the clock for the billionth time. Abby, Kelley and Lauren all shared a look. For as long as they had known Alex, she always kept the same schedule. She always left practice as soon as she could. They had just assumed it was because her parents were strict or maybe she had a lot of homework that she wanted done before a certain time. They didn’t know what happened if she didn’t stick to her routine. No one really thought to ask.

“Would you chill out? I don’t understand what’s the big de-”

“That’s the problem! You fucking don’t understand! And you never will.” Alex’s whisper-shouting led to her hyperventilating. Tobin was taken aback and gave the girl’s friends confused looks. Yeah maybe Tobin was being a bit of a dick, but nothing she said should have made the forward freak out like this. They looked just as lost as she was. The forward had her head between her hands, looking as if she were on the verge of tears.

She didn't know what made her do it, but it was painful seeing the girl like this.

“I could help you escape if you want…” Alex looked at the girl. “I’m usually the only one in here so they don’t even have a teacher, but I could get you out. I’ve done it plenty of times.” Lauren wanted to scoff...of course she has.

“You’d do that?”

“Well not for free of course,” the badass smirked. “It’s gonna cost you…I think a date will suffice.”

“Fine!” The forward gave in. “Just get me out of here.”

Tobin nodded and stood up to head to the front of the classroom.

“Mr. Brunner? I think Alex is about to throw up her lunch.” It wasn’t even a bad lie, because Alex had been extremely pale since the clock struck five.

“I don’t want vomit on my floors. Take her to the restrooms,” he ordered.

Tobin and Alex rushed out the classroom. Once in the hallways, the soccer player took off into a sprint. The badass struggled to keep up. “Thank you so much!” Her hand was almost yanked off her arm as Alex pulled out a sharpie from her bag and wrote down her number on her palm.

“So I’ll text you-”

“Yeah sure, sounds great.” Alex hopped in her car and sped off, leaving Tobin even more lost than before.

..

Tobin met Hope 20 minutes later at their usual hangout, the local park.

“So how’d detention with Miss. High Maintenance go?” the taller girl asked.

“Interesting to say the least. She was hyperventilating the whole time, and trying to get home. I always assumed that her parents were strict and that’s why she’s so uptight, but damn.”

“Did you ask what was up?”

“Didn’t have a chance…but I did get her number!” Tobin gave her a shit-eating grin and held up the hand that had Alex’s script on it.

“Niiice…only took you two and a half weeks,” Hope smirked.

“Shut up.”  _Two and a half tiring weeks, but it was worth it._

“I’m just saying. It’s the middle of March, you have a good three months left. Might need to pick up the pace.”

..

“You’re late,” her father spoke the second she walked through the door.

“Dad, I’m so sorry! There was this thin-” Her father’s large hands pushed her backwards. Alex wasn’t able to catch herself and she fell, the back of her right shoulder hitting the corner of the coffee table.

“Don’t let it happen again,” he spat, leaving her on the ground.

The soccer player willed her tears not to fall. Crying only made him angrier. It was also a sign of weakness that she was not willing to show. Slowly and painfully she got up, not even having to look to know that a bruise was forming.

..

Alex didn’t go to school the next two days. She certainly didn’t stay home though. She spent the whole time with her mother. Of course she didn’t tell her what had happened. Her mother had her own health to worry about.

When she finally did go back to school, the whole soccer team swarmed her. Alex couldn’t avoid them any longer.

“Where have you been girl?” Kelley asked, throwing at around her the girl’s shoulder. Alex winced. Her best friend’s hand quickly retreated. “Woah, are you okay?”

“Yeah,” Alex did her best to hide the pain in her voice.

“What happened?”

“Bike accident,” she lied.

“So you skipped school two days to ride your bike…and managed to get in an accident?” Lauren asked. She called bullshit.

“What did I miss at practice?” Alex asked changing the subject. She cursed herself for not coming up with a better lie.

“We mostly scrimmaged,” Christen answered.

“Tobin asked about you,” Kelley butted in. Alex stopped walking, confusion coming across her facial features. “She asked all of us actually…” This surprised the soccer player. Why would Tobin even care where she was, or how she was for that matter?

“Really?”

“Yeah she said you never answered her text,” Christen added. “How does she even have your number?”

“She got me out of detention and wanted something in return,” Alex sighed.

Almost everyone in the hallway erupted in laughter in the next moment. The group stopped what they were doing to see what had caused all the commotion. There was some scrawny kid on the ground, his glasses askew and his books scattered everywhere. Above him were none other Tobin and Hope high-fiving each other.

Alex noticed that Tobin had a really nice smile, but she girl was smiling for all the wrong reasons.

The soccer player rolled her eyes and went to help the kid up, remembering herself being in a similar situation days ago. On the ground, but she herself didn't have help. She also didn’t care for the spotlight and she knew this kid certainly didn’t enjoy it either. The boy looked at her like she was an angel sent from heaven.

“Thanks,” he stuttered, blushing profusely. She smiled at him and nodded.

As the kid scampered off, Alex went to glare at Tobin and Hope. Hope was completely unfazed. But Tobin’s grin faltered..

“Really? Was that necessary?” she asked. “You’re trying to get me to go out with you, but you’re really not making good impressions…” Alex walked off, leaving the badass to think about her actions all of two seconds.

Tobin sighed, looking at Hope. The taller girl motioned her to go chase after her. So she did.

“Alex wait, come on!” Tobin called, breaking off into a half-jog. “You have to admit that was funny,” she laughs. She hoped the forward would at least giggle but she got nothing in return. _Okay bad approach_.

The badass reaches for Alex’s hand to stop her from walking away further.

“It’s wrong to pick on the helpless, Tobin.” The disappointment in Alex’s eyes made the other girl want to get down on her knees beg for her forgiveness. Tobin didn’t know what it was, or why she was feeling this way, but she never wanted to see Alex like this again. It made her realize what a shit person she was.

“I know…This is just the only way I know how to be,” she confessed. What the hell, bro? This isn’t some episode of Oprah. Man the fuck up!

"I really don’t like bullying.”

"It won’t happen again." Alex stared at her with a blank expression. _Shit_. Remember the mission… “I texted you that night. You didn’t reply.”

“I had some problems that I had to take are of,” Alex answered, looking away. Tobin wanted to scoff because, really- what kind problems could a person like Alex even have? She’s pretty, she’s smart, she’s got a fucking Mercedes, and the bitch has more than one friend which is a hell of a lot more than Tobin can say for herself.

The badass decided not to push it though. Listening to other people’s problems wasn’t really her thing anyway. She was the worst comforter.

“Well how about I take you out this Friday?” That was two days away from today.

“We have our first soccer game then…”

“Great. I’ll come watch you do yo thang, then we can head out after.” A smile appeared on Tobin’s face when she saw Alex blush.

“Okay...”

..

“So you’re seriously going to go out with Tobin?” Kelley asked as they stretched before practice.

“Its either that, or be pestered for the rest of the year. I’d rather get it over with now rather than later,” she reasoned. "I'm stressed enough as it is."

“But do you know what her intentions are? I mean, she probably just wants to get in your pants.”

“Kelley, it’s one date. There probably won’t even be a second one…and do you seriously think I’d give it  up on the first date? I’m not a whore,” she laughed. The other girl joined her, but seriousness crossed her face again.

“I just don’t want to see you get hurt.” Alex looked up from tying her cleats. She smiled at her friend’s concern. 

“Thanks Kel. That means a lot.”


	3. The Game

Alex sat on the hood of her car Friday morning before school, re-reading her paper that was due in first period. She noticed Servando walking towards her out of the corner of her eye. She smiled, happy to see a friendly face after all the glares she’d been given by the female population by just agreeing to go out with Tobin.

“Don’t tell me you’re actually gonna go out with Tobin Heath.” Her smile faltered.

“Well hello, Serv, it’s nice to see you too,” she replied sarcastically.

“I won’t let you go out with her.” He crossed his arms and gave her a stern look.

“Oh I’m sorry, and when did you become in charge of my life?” she asked, crossing her arms as well. “You don’t decide who I go out with Servando.” Alex hopped off her car and slammed her paper into her bag. She then stalked her way into the building, the boy hot on her tail.

“Tobin Heath is a player, Alex. She doesn’t care about anyone but herself. You need to be with someone who will amount to something!”

“Let me guess, that person is you?” she asked, stopping so suddenly that Servando almost ran into her. Alex looked up at him, her face showing signs of exhaustion. “I like you Servando, I really do…”

“I really like you too,” he cut in quickly.

“…But if this friendship is going to work, you have to let me make decisions for myself.” His face fell at the word ‘friendship’ but he nodded anyway.

“Alex!” Tobin called from down the hall. The girl was standing next to her best friend and waving in the most adorable way. She had a large grin on her face; a genuine one.

“I’ll see you around?” she asked the boy. He put on a fake smile.

“Yeah.” Alex then walked over to the two girls.

“Hey,” Alex greeted. Tobin looked at Hope expectantly. The taller huffed, rolling her eyes and walking off. Tobin grinned again.

“So are you as excited as I am about this date?” she asked casually, leaning up against the lockers looking as cool as ever.

“You’re excited?” Alex asked, very surprised that the badass would even admit this.

“Of course,” Tobin smiled. “I get to take out the most beautiful girl in school. Why wouldn’t I be?” The soccer player blushed, turning her head. She knew that the other girl had probably planned out this conversation in her head, but that didn’t stop her face from reddening.

“Whatever,” she waved off.

“I mean it.” Tobin’s brown eyes looked so sincere that Alex didn’t want to believe anything else. All she could do is smile. “Can I walk you to class?” The soccer player nodded, smiling again when Tobin took her books from her for the second time.

“So where are we going tonight?”

“I’m not telling,” the badass sang. She laughed when the soccer player huffed, much like Hope had done moments ago. Tobin made the mistake of looking over and saw that Alex had a puppy dog face. She briefly got lost in her blue eyes. She almost caved.

Almost.

“That’s not gonna work.” She tore her eyes away from the girl’s face, afraid what would happen if she looked any longer.

“Fine. Don’t tell me. I guess someone won’t be getting a kiss at the end of the night.” Tobin stopped dead in her tracks, in a daze. Did she just hear what she think she just heard? “Are you coming, Tobin? I’d prefer not to be late to class…” the badass jogged to catch up the with the girl.

The two reached Alex’s classroom a few minutes before the bell. Tobin handed Alex her books back outside the door.

“So I’ll see you fourth period.”

“Yeah.”

..

After Hope had walked away from Tobin and Alex, she noticed Kelley walking with Lauren Cheney and Christen Press. A smile came to her face.

Okay so the girl kind of had a thing for the defender. Not a crush, because badasses like herself and Tobin don’t get crushes. But she was just kind of sort of mesmerized by everything Kelley did.

Kelley had never been afraid to approach her like the rest of the school. One time when, Hope was at a local fitness center in the locker room and Kelley had walked in. She simply said, “Nice abs,” ran her fingers across her stomach and walked off. That was the first moment that really drew her in.

Kelley wasn’t shy either. One of the days when Hope was watching the soccer team practice, Kelley had stripped down to her spandex and bra in front of her. Not knowingly at first because the only people that were supposed to be out there were the players, but one of the soccer ball rolled under the bleachers and she went to go retrieve it. There was no doubt in Hope’s that Kelley knew she was staring at her, but she didn’t show it. She bent down to pick up the ball, giving the taller girl a lovely view, and left.

That was the second moment.

The third was in class one day when the some dumb jock asked a retarded question. Hope mumbled something sarcastic under her breath, thinking no one heard her. But Kelley did and was giggling in the background. Hope couldn’t help but smirk.

Third moment that made her stay.

“Hey Kelley,” she said smoothly. The group paused their conversation to look up at Hope.

“Oh hey Hope,” she greeted, a smile coming across her face. “You’re actually just the person I wanted to talk to.”

“Really now?”

“Yes.” She turned to her friends. “I’ll meet you guys in a sec.” They nodded and left, giving Hope a knowing glance that made her only slightly uncomfortable. “It’s about Alex and Tobin.” _Of course it is_ she thought.

“You wanna know if Tobin is trying to play her right?” Kelley shrugged.

“Tobin is your best friend. Alex is mine. I care about her.”

“Listen. As Tobin’s best friend, I’m supposed to notice the little things. Ever since Alex showed up Tobin hasn’t missed a day of school or class. And do you know how many offers for sex she’s gotten since she started even showing interest in Alex that she’s turned down? She doesn’t even give them hoes the time of day anymore. She’s changing. She probably hasn’t even realized it yet, but I have.”

It was the truth. Hope was sure that this sudden disinterest in everyone else wasn’t just because of the bet. Tobin would deny this any second of the day, but she’s definitely in like with Alex. Love definitely wasn’t it, but Tobin was attracted to the soccer player to say the least.

“I suppose that’s good to hear.” Feeling a little brave, Hope stepped closer.

“You suppose?” Kelley backed against the lockers, looking up at the other girl through her eyelashes. Her hands lay flat against the lockers behind her as Hope put one hand on her hip and the other on the lockers.

“I just want what’s best for Alex.”

“Can we not talk about them for a second. Let’s focus on us,” Hope suggested.

“And what aspect of ‘us’ would we be focusing on?” Kelley asked.

“I could probably show you better than I could tell you…” Hope leaned in. Kelley did too.

The bell rang.

The moment ruined.

“I fucking hate school,” Hope cursed. Kelley giggled, smacking Hope’s arm for using foul language.

“Watch your mouth!”

“Sorry,” she said in way that didn’t sound sorry at all.

“I have to get to class… You’re coming to the game right?” the other girl asked in a hopeful voice. Hope’s green eyes stared into Kelley’s hazel ones.

“I haven’t missed a game since freshman year.” She watches as Kelley walks off to class. She herself contemplated whether she wanted to go to class as well.

“So close yet so far,” Tobin mocked when she walked past her.

“Fuck you,” she spat.

“That would be Kelley’s job.”

..

In fourth period, the class was told to get into groups of two. Kelley and Alex of course immediately went to each other, seeing as they were best friends after all. Tobin watched as they two interacted. They hardly got anything done because they were laughing so much, about pretty much everything. Kelley was banging her fist on the desk, red in the face. Alex’s hands covered her mouth, her legs bouncing up and down on the ground.

The two were much like she and Hope were. You know, aside from the terrorizing of the innocent and badassery. She and Hope could have fun doing pretty much anything. That’s why the school board made it a mission to keep them from having classes together.

Tobin paid no attention to her partner, some preppy kid that wore all Ralph Lauren. All she did was focus on Alex. The dude huffed a few times to try to get her to work, but she silenced him with one look and went back to openly staring at Alex.

“You know Tobin Heath has been staring at you for like, all class period,” Allie Long said to Alex. The girl was in her physics class as well. They had become friends since the forward moved to Diamond Bar. Not super close or anything, just someone she felt comfortable talking to.

“What?” Alex asked, confused. She whipped her head to her left, and sure enough, Tobin brown eyes met blue ones. The badass smirked, making Alex blush for some reason.

“Someone has a date tonight,” Kelley sang, nudging her.

“Really?” Allie asked surprised. Maybe at the fact that Alex was going out with a girl. Maybe at the fact that Tobin Heath was taking someone on a date. Maybe at the fact that Alex Morgan was that someone that Tobin Heath was taking on a date.

“Don’t you go to this school?” Kelley asked sarcastically. “It’s all anyone can talk about.”

“I don’t listen to what half of these idiots say around school. Most of them are rumors,” the blonde shrugged.

“Well this one’s no rumor,” Alex answered, before Kelley could jump in again.

“Good luck with that.” It wasn’t sarcastic. Just Allie wishing her good luck. “Where are y’all going?”

“She won’t tell me.”

The bell rang after that, signaling that it was time for them to go to lunch.

..

“WHAT THE FUCK REF? HOW IS THAT NOT A FOUL?” Tobin screamed down on the field from the student section. It was only fifteen minutes into the game, but they were being pretty brutal out there. One girl tried to slide tackle to get the ball, but she missed and got Alex instead.

It took a while, but the forward eventually got up. Tobin let out a sigh of relief.

This being their first time at any DBHS event, Tobin and Hope decided to go all out, rocking purple and gold left and right.

“Dude, Alex has the ball!” Tobin exclaimed, slapping across her stomach. Hope threw the arm off, rolling her eyes. Tobin had been like this the whole game, getting hype for no reason. Especially when Alex would get the ball.

“I know bro, I have eyes…”

In another play, Kelley stole the ball from an oncoming forward of King High and booted it up field.

“Did you see that defense from Kelley though?!” Hope asked, punching Tobin in the arm once. The shorter girl winced, grabbing her now throbbing limb.

“Yeah dude, I’m right next to you…”

Between Alex Morgan, Abby Wambach, and Sydney Leroux, Diamond Bar had taken twelve shots on goal, Alex and Sydney scoring two goals each, and Abby scoring the 5th. The other seven just barely missed or the goalkeeper luckily being in the right place it the right time. It was obvious that the King High defense was tired, no matter who they put out there, no one could stop any of the forwards.

Thanks to defense by Kelley O’Hara and Ali Krieger, the ball never even got to Ashlyn Harris, the goalkeeper for the school.

The game ended with a five-o shut out.

..

“You gonna get you some tonight?” Hope asked as they waited in the parking lot for the players to get out.

“Nah dude, you know she won’t give it up on the first date.” The taller girl nodded, thinking for a moment before speaking again.

“We need to add some rules to this bet.” In all honesty, Tobin had completely forgotten about the bet. She forgot the whole reason she was even going on a date with Alex was because of the bet.

“What kind of rules?”

“Well first off, know one knows about this but us.”

“Well that won’t be a problem. Dude you’re like the only person I know.”

“And second,” Hope ignored Tobin, “you have to keep me updated. No keeping secrets bro. Third; don’t let her fall in love with you man. That won’t end well.” The short one nodded, taking this all in. The rules seemed simple enough.

Moments later, Alex walked out with Kelley right behind her. She wasn’t wearing anything special. Just some jeans, Nikes, and Diamond Bar soccer tee with her last name on the back. Her hair was still wet from her shower, thrown up in a messy bun. Tobin wondered who she could make something so simple look perfect.

“Handle that,” Hope said, clapping her hand on Tobin’s back.

..

“Hey there, Superstar. You played awesome out there,” Tobin complimented. And she meant it. It took a lot to impress her; not many people could because she simply because she didn’t give two shits about anything. Alex intrigued her though. It was pretty cool watching her in her own domain. She could tell that the forward was passionate about her sport.

“Thanks.” Tobin threw her arm around Alex’s shoulder and guided them through the parking lot. The forward slightly cringed as her shoulder was still a bit tender. “I see you’re decked out in our school colors,” she added, looking down at Tobin’s outfit. The girl was dressed in some faded gray skinnies, a purple and gold ¾ sleeve baseball type shirt, a gold beanie, and purple Vans.

“Only for you.” She smirked when the forward blushed. She liked making her blush. Red was a good color on her.

Two stopped in front of a matte black Kawasaki Ninja 250R.

“No.”

“Yes.”

“No.”

“Yes!”

“Absolutely not.”

“Morgan, come on.”

“Motorcycles are not safe,” she argued.

“They are completely fine,” Tobin assured. “You’ll be safe with me.”

“I don’t want to die!”

“I’m offended. Really, I am.” Tobin holds her heart and feigns hurt. “I’ll have you know that I am a very good and safe rider.” Alex still looks apprehensive about getting on. The badass looked the soccer player directly in the eye, a small smile on her face. “I won’t let anything happen to you,” she promised.

Alex nodded, taking the helmet Tobin held out for her.

The badass got on first to steady the bike, then the forward. She was holding on for dear life and the bike hadn’t even been cranked up yet.

  
Alex felt Tobin’s abs through her shirt, impressed. For someone who gave off a ‘lazy piece of shit’ vibe, she was very fit.

Tobin turned on the motorcycle. “Hang on, Princess…” The bike jerked forward, Alex’s grip tightening even more if possible.

..

“That one seriously caught me off guard,” Ashlyn said to Ali as they watched Tobin and Alex leave on the badass’ motorcycle.

“What do you mean?”

“I mean that I could have sworn Alex was straight. I could have _sworn_ that Tobin Heath did not go on dates. And lastly, I could have sworn that Alex hated Tobin and that feeling was mutual.” Ali nodded now understanding what she meant.

She did think it was a little strange that Tobin had chased after Alex after she told her off, but then again Tobin had always liked a challenge so for all she knew, that could have been a turn on. She was also almost positive that Alex and Servando had a thing, but who knows?

Ali was never one to judge though, and frankly she didn’t believe it was her place to pick apart what was going on between Tobin and Alex.

“Who knows? Maybe Tobin really likes Alex.”

“Talking about the ‘it’ couple?” Abby asked, with her girlfriend Sarah Huffman underneath her arm.

“They certainly aren’t a couple, but…I just don’t get it,” Ashlyn huffed.

“Retweet,” Abby agreed. “I thought Alex was straight too.” The goalkeeper threw her hands up, as that was the exact same thing she said minutes ago.

“Alex told me that Tobin did her favor so she had to agree to go out with her,” Sarah said.

“Yeah, but-”

“Its not _that_ weird, you guys…I mean look at Hope and Kelley,” Ali pointed out.

To the left of them was Kelley sitting on the hood of her car, her legs swinging back and forth, talking to Hope, who had her hands stuffed in her front packets and a smirk on her face. The defender was talking animatedly to the taller girl, while the other girl just listened and nodded.

“I think they are cute,” Sarah commented.

“Why are all the troublemakers trying to get with our teammates?” Ashlyn asked.

“Babe, that’s not nice! You don’t know why they act like they do. They could have good reasons…”

“A good reason for mentally destroying every kid who is afraid to stick up for themselves?” Abby asked.

“You shouldn’t judge a book by its cover,” Sarah said to Abby, siding with Ali. The two smiled at each other. The goalkeeper and captain gave exasperated sighs as their girlfriends teamed up once again to make they feel guilty with their kindness towards everyone and everything.

“Has anyone ever notice how many lesbians we have on this team?” Ashlyn asked curiously, completely forgetting what they were discussing earlier. The other three laughed. “Seriously though, this has got to be a record for any sport.”


	4. The Date

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Things go well...almost too well.

“Alex?” Tobin asked.

“Yeah?” Her voice was muffled because of the helmet.

“You can let go now. We’ve stopped moving…”

“Oh. Sorry.”

Alex hadn’t even realized she had closed her eyes during the motorcycle ride. All she did was pray that she didn’t fall off. She loosened her grip on Tobin, letting the girl breathe and maneuver more easily.

“What is this place?” Alex asked once she removed the helmet and she  was safely on the ground. Her legs were a bit shaky, it being her first time to ever ride on a two-wheeled death trap.

The building had a retro look going on about it. It was covered in neon lights and music could be heard playing from inside.

“It’s an arcade. My dad used to bring me here when I was little,” Tobin explained. She wrapped an arm around Alex’s shoulder and led them inside. Inside it was dark with black lights everywhere. Anyone wearing white stood out.

The ‘arcade’ wasn’t really an arcade at all. It was more like a hangout? Sure there was arcade games such as PacMan, first person shooting games, and racing, but it was more like mini Dave and Busters. There were pool tables, and there was a dining area and mini skate park. It was really cool.

“This place is so cool!” Alex said in awe.

“Yeah its pretty dope,” Tobin agreed, smiling at the look on Alex’s face.

“Tobin!” A deep voice exclaimed. A man, about 5’11” in a Hawaiian shirt was walking towards them with his arms spread out wide. Alex could tell he was older than he actually looked. Grey hair was forming on the side of his head, but the rest for the most part was black. “It’s so good to see you!”

“Hey Uncle Phil,” Tobin greeted, releasing Alex to give the giant man a hug. “How’s life?”

“Pretty good. Pretty boring since you haven’t been around lately. Don’t tell me you’ve actually been going to school…”

“I take offense to that!” Alex giggled at the two, bringing the attention of Uncle Phil on her.

“And who is this pretty lady? Girlfriend?” Alex blushed, unable to say anything and Tobin scratched the back of her neck.

“No this is Alex Morgan,” Tobin said like it explained everything.

“Ah the girl you talked about for hours a couple weeks ago?” Now it was the badass’ turn to blush and Alex was the one smirking.

“It’s a pleasure to meet you,” she greeted.

“Call me Uncle Phil. Everyone does,” he said taking her hand.

“We’re gonna go now.” Tobin grabbed Alex’s hand and dragged her away from the man before he could get another chance to make her blush. She never blushed. Never.

..

“I just got hustled,” Tobin murmured to herself. “I don’t believe this,” she said louder. Alex was celebrating in front of her, waving the pool stick around in circles, almost hitting a few people.

“Ladies and gentlemen, Alex Morgan has done it again! And the crowd goes wild!”

“You cheated!”

“Did not.”

“Well you made me think you sucked at pool!”

When the two got to the pool table earlier, Alex couldn’t even hit the que ball without it flying off the table. So, Tobin taught her how to hold the stick properly, coming behind her to press her body against hers. She whispered in her ear and told her how to aim and shoot. The soccer player looked like she was struggling at first so Tobin went as far as going though the motions with her.

Then Alex told her she was ready. Tobin laughed and said she would go easy on her, but then the tables turned and she was being slaughtered.

“You mad bro?” Tobin chuckled at how weird the phrase sounded coming from Alex’s lips.

“Nah…I do want a rematch though.”

The two order a large pizza and drinks. They found a little booth in the corner and sit down across from each other. Tobin had both hands tucked under her chin and was leaning forward, her eyes never leaving Alex’s blue ones.

“Wanna play 20 questions?”

“Why did you ask me out?” Tobin was caught off guard by how quickly she asked the question back and the seriousness of it.

“You like to get right to it, I see,” she said. Alex gave her a blank look. “I wanted to get to know you. I mean, you challenged _the_ Tobin Heath. That deserves _something_.” It wasn’t really a lie. She did want to get to know about the girl. “What’s your favorite color?” Alex wanted to laugh at the immature question, but she saw that Tobin was, for the most part, taking this to heart.

“Pink. Favorite activity?” Alex was sure that Tobin would something like sex or drugs.

“I like to long board every now and again.” The soccer player raised an eyebrow. “And surf. Maybe that’s where I’ll take you on our second date,” Tobin smirked.

“And what makes you think there will be second date?” Alex quirked an eyebrow..

“That counts as a question. And to answer it, secretly, you are enjoying this date a lot more than you thought you would.” The soccer player gave Tobin a small smile.

“I am.” She received a large grin from the badass. “You have a nice smile,” Alex complimented. Tobin averted her eyes and mumbled a thanks.

There was a comfortable silence that passed between them as they scarfed down a couple slices each.

“What’s your family like?” Tobin asked. Alex choked on her pizza and reached for her glass of water. “Woah, you alright there?” She nodded and got her breathing back under control.

“So?” the badass pressed.

“So what?” The soccer player played ask, faking cluelessness.

“What’s your family like?”

Tobin would never know the magnitude of that question. Family was that last thing she wanted to talk about. Her mother is in the hospital with cancer, her father is an alcoholic and druggie, she’s constantly being abused, she hasn’t spoken to either of her sisters since the move… How do you explain that to someone who you don’t fully trust? Hell, she hadn’t even told the people she _did_ trust.

“What do you think my family is like?” she asked instead of answering the quesiton.

“Honestly? I imagine a handsome father drinking coffee and reading the newspaper, a pretty mother cooking over the stove; green grass, a golden retriever with some corny name, trophies everywhere, family photos, and an overachiever of a daughter who aims to please her loving-yet-strict parents.”

 _Wow_. What Tobin imagined must have come straight from some Nicholas Sparks **(I never read a Nicholas Sparks book so don’t flame me)** book. Except for the ‘trophies’ and ‘daughter aiming to please’ part, the badass couldn’t have been any more wrong.

“Hmm…” Alex hummed, unable to think of anything else. She wondered if that’s what everyone thought her lifestyle was like.

“Am I close?”

“Sure.” Her answer left Tobin suspicious but she decided not to push.

“How about that rematch now?”

“You sure you can handle another loss?”

“You’re going down this time.”

Tobin did, in fact, lose again. When Alex hit the 8 ball in the corner pocket, she still had 5 striped ones left. Her hands grasped the side of the pool table and she hung her head down while Alex did a happy dance.

“You know pool just really isn’t your thing.” Tobin looked up and tried to come off as mad but she couldn’t fight off the smile that was forming at her lips. She liked seeing Alex like this. This Alex was different from the uptight, always having something to prove Alex that was portrayed at school. This Alex was carefree.

The rest of the date included Tobin telling Alex bad jokes and Alex laughing at them anyway because of the effort the badass put into telling them.

..

After another round of Alex digging her claws into Tobin’s skin and squeezing the air out her lungs, they were finally in front of Kelley’s house on the girl’s doorstep.

“I had fun tonight,” Alex told her, clasping her hands behind her back and looking at Tobin. Tobin once again fought to not get lost her her ocean eyes.

“I’m glad. I did too.”

The front door opens to reveal Kelley dressed in an bright red onesie and glasses that were slid down to the tip of her nose, plus she the latest issue of Seventeen magazine in her left hand. Her arms were crossed, her right foot tapping impatiently.

“I thought we agreed that you’d have her home by twelve?” she asked, trying to look intimidating and serious.

“We never agreed on anything actually.” Tobin wanted to do many things when she saw Kelley. One of them being snapping a photo and sending it to Hope, another being pushing her back through the door so she could have some alone time with Alex. She also wanted to laugh too, because she just looked ridiculous. Tobin thought Alex wouldn’t appreciate her making fun of her friend though, so she just kept quiet.

“Well if we did agree on an arrival time, it would be twelve. It’s…” she checked a sliver watch that must have been her father’s because it was way too big for her wrist. “12:18.”

“Kel?” Alex spoke up, making her freckled friend look at her. “Could you give us a moment?”

Her best friend looked back and forth between the two, her gaze staying on Tobin more than Alex.

“You have 30 seconds.”

“Kelley.” The girl raised her hands up in surrender and backpedaled back into the house.

“I’m sorry about her,” Alex apologized.

“No worries, everything’s kosher. She’s your friend; its her job.” She stuffed her hands in her pockets and looked up at Alex. They were on different levels; Alex being on a higher step than Tobin.

“So, uh-” Tobin started.

“I was-” Alex began a the same time.

They gave each other a look and laughed. A silence passed between them for the second time tonight. They were waiting on the other to say something, but neither made a move to speak.

“You go first,” the badass offered.

“I was wrong about you, Heath.”

“And that’s a good thing I hope?”

“It is. I didn’t know why you asked me out. I honestly thought that you were going to try to kill me or something. All week, everyone was telling me Tobin Heath is this, Tobin Heath is that. Don’t trust her- and you should know that I still don’t trust you.” Tobin nodded in understanding. She wouldn’t trust her either. “But you showed me a different side other than being a womanizer and a bully.” She hung her head down, suddenly feeling slightly ashamed of everything she had ever done.

She pushed aside the nagging feeling in the back of her brain about the bet.

Tobin opened her mouth to say something, but Alex held up a finger and cut her off.

“One sec.”

She reached for the door handle, turned it, then rammed her body into the door.

“FREAKING OW!” Kelley yelled. She swings the door open, cradling the side of her face. “You can find someone else’s house to spend the night at.”

“I told you, you shouldn’t have been spying on them. HAO, did I or did I not?” Lauren asked from inside the house.

“Its true,” Heather said.

Alex pushed Kelley back inside, closing the door and turned to a now amused Tobin. Serves her right for pressing her face against the door and eavesdropping.

“Anyways I’m glad you did,” she finished.

“So did you enjoy this date enough to consider going on a second one?” Tobin asked hopefully. Alex looked deep in her eyes, searching for a sign, anything to tell her that this girl was being serious about this.

“I’ll think about.”

“That’s all I ask.”

“Goodnight Tobin.” The badass hopped up the three steps that separated them. She pecked the soccer player on the cheek and stepped back, smiling.

“Night Alex.”

..

“And she just clung to you like her life depended on it?’ Tobin nodded. “Awww!” Hope cooed. “Ain’t that sweet?”

“Shut up.”

“Is there anything _else_?”

“Dammit Hope, I’ve told you everything that happened!” The taller girl held her arms up in surrender.

“Just checking.” Tobin plopped down on the couch in her apartment and propped her feet up on the coffee table. “I’m crashing here by the way.”

“Don’t you always?” the shorter of the two asked with her eyes closed and her hands clasped together on her stomach. “How’s things at the Solo house?”

Hope, who was chilling in the recliner scrolling through TV channels, shrugged.

“I imagine its still fucked up over there. Judy is still an alcoholic and Gerry is still a con man, I’m sure.”

A wave of sympathy washed over Tobin. She had been over Hope’s house when they were younger and knew exactly how messed up it was. Her brother Marcus was always trying to hurt them or scare them and it definitely worked.

Hope’s father, Gerry, was always in and out of jail. He was homeless for a while too, when Hope’s mother, Judy, kicked him out. He came back sometimes without her knowing and crashed in the basement. That’s where her and Hope found him one time when they were pulling an all-nighter.

Tobin never judged her, but embraced Hope’s lifestyle instead.

Years later Tobin came out to her parents and she was kicked out of her house. Coming from a very devout Christian family, being gay was definitely not acceptable. Cindy, her mother, who had once treated Hope like her own daughter, blamed everything on her saying that her messed up lifestyle led Tobin down this path. She was sixteen when that happened.

Now she’s eighteen and on her own. Jeffrey, her father, bought her an apartment the summer before her senior year because he knew she couldn’t keep this nomadic lifestyle. She used to crash at Hope’s, but since she had her apartment, Hope crashed at her place. It was an escape for the both of them.

“Do you ever think that maybe this isn’t the life we are supposed to live?” Tobin asked after a moment of silence.

“All the time,” Hope answered without hesitation.

Deciding that they had nothing more to say to each other, Tobin went off into her bedroom and Hope took Tobin’s place on the couch.

The next morning the Hope was awakened by banging on the door.

“Tobin, answer the fucking door!” she yelled out, putting the pillow over her head to muffle the noise. Tobin came out of her room with wild hair, a white wife-beater and some plaid boxers. She swung the front door opened and looked at the person through squinted eyes as she still couldn’t quite see properly.

“Are you high again Miss Heath? Hung over perhaps?” A tall, lanky ginger let himself inside and inspected the area.

“The fuck you want Carl? We’re trying to sleep.” Hope sat up, looking just as disoriented as her friend had.

You see, Carl was a pain in their ass. Every time they were thinking about doing something, he would pop up. Most of the police force in Diamond Bar had given up on the two, but Carl was determined to catch them doing something until they were sentenced to life in prison.

“That’s Officer Thomas to you, and I haven’t heard any complaints about you two recently so I decided to check up.”

“How nice of you,” Tobin said sarcastically, slamming her front door. She plopped down on the couch, throwing Hope’s feet out of the way in the process. The other girl glared at her, but she just groaned in response and let her head fall back.

“So what’s been going on with you two?”

“Its not like you actually care anyway.”

Carl walked around the couch and went through Tobin’s fridge. Probably looking for drugs or alcohol, they figured.

“Of course I care. I may be able to get some information to put you two away for good.” Hope rolled her eyes and turned on the TV. SpongeBob was on; it was the episode where he broke his spatula and he cried for the first ten minutes of the show. Both girls laughed.

Carl sighed and went snooping some more. He spotted a shiny silver watch next to a gold chain on the counter.

“Where’d you acquire all this jewelry, Heath?” he asked waving it in the air. Tobin turned her attention away from the cartoon to him.

“Hmm…I got the watch from your wife, and the chain from your mother, and I’m pretty sure I have something from your grandmother in my room too, if you wanna check in there,” she smirked. Hope bumped her fist.

“Watch yourself, Heath.” Carl tossed the items back on the counter and let himself out, leaving the door open. Tobin growled. That was a pet peeve of hers; when people walked out and didn’t close the door behind them.

She got up and slammed the door for the second time that morning.

..

The second Alex woke up, she was met with four pairs of staring at her. She jerked back, banging her on the foot of the couch in Kelley’s living room.

“What the hell?! You guys scared the shit out of me,” she gasped, clutching her heart.

“We let you sleep last night cause you said you were tired, but we’ve waited long enough. It’s 10:30, and you have some explaining to do,” Kelley demanded.

“And what exactly am I explaining?” Alex asked, rubbing the sleep out of her eyes.

“You’re date! Duh…” Lauren exclaimed.

“Yeah, how’d it go?” Christen asked.

“What was it like?” HAO cut in.

“I had fun.”

The four crossed their arms at Alex and gave her a pointed look.

“What, you want me to explain every little detail?”

“Duh.”

So she did. Alex described the whole date from start to finish. From the pool table battle to the Tobin holding the door open for her when they walked out.

She left out the kiss on the cheek though. She didn’t want to give them any satisfaction with that.

“So she didn’t act like a jerk?” Heather asked confused.

“Not once. I really think that what Tobin does at school is just a front.”

She knew what putting up a front looked like all too well. She’d been putting up one since she moved to Diamond Bar.

“Interesting…” Lauren and Christen said simultaneously.


	5. Tobin Smash

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Things went well on Friday, but has Tobin completely blown it with Alex?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> WARNING: some violence in this, but not too bad. I'm an amateur writer so...

While Tobin leaned on her motorcycle and waited for Hope to arrive, her phone rang. She saw it was from her mother and cringed. The last time they had spoken was three months ago at Christmas. She was asked to come home to talk things out, but she politely declined and told her mother to go fuck herself. Actually, she didn’t say it, but she was thinking it.

“Why are you calling my phone, Cindy?” she answered.

“Well hello Tobin, its nice to hear from you as well,” her mother replied. Tobin could imagine the older woman rolling her eyes.

“Did you want something? I have school, you know.”

“So you’re actually attending school now? What changed?” It was like her mother was mocking her. She didn’t have time for this.

“Did you want something, Cindy?” she asked forcefully. Tobin had to literally take her hand and put it to her jaw to get her to make herself stop grinding her teeth together. Her mother sighed through the phone.

“We just want you to come home so we can talk. I promise you won’t have to stay more than 30 minutes.” She waited for her daughter but when she was met with silence, she continued. “You have to be bored of hopping from house to house…”

Her father, Jeffrey, never told her mother that he had bought her an apartment. She was grateful for that.

“I like my lifestyle.” Tobin thought about how cool it was living with her best friend and doing whatever they wanted. “And there is nothing to talk about. You kicked me out; end of story.”

“I just don’t understand why you chose th-” she cut her mother off.

“That’s right. You don’t fucking understand,” she spat. Her mind went to last week when Alex told her almost the exact same words. “You didn’t even try to!” she raised her voice. Some students looked at her and she glared at them. Out of the corner of her eye she saw Hope walking towards her. The taller girl stopped a couple of feet to her right.

“Well that’s what I’m trying to do now.” It sound forced. Tobin figured her dad was standing over her mother’s shoulder to make sure she said the right thing. “I’m sorry, Tobin.”

“I don’t want your apology.” She roughly pressed the ‘end call’. One thing Tobin hated about touch screen phones was that you couldn’t do a dramatic hang up like you could with a flip phone.

“Cindy?” Hope guessed, handing her friend a cigarette. Tobin groaned in response.

She hated that mother knew how to instantly ruin her day. She hated that her mother had that power over her. She hated that she got so worked up. She hated her mother. She hated herself.

..

When Alex was walking into the building she spotted Tobin. She knew something was wrong instantly. The girl had a scowl on her face as she exhaled, a cloud of smoke surrounding her face. Hope was next her with an understanding look on her face, also smoking as well.

Their eyes connected and she sent Tobin a small smile and a wave. The girl’s expression never changed as she took a long drag. Tobin stared Alex down, exhaled again and closed her eyes. Alex slowly put her hand down and looked away, frowning. She wondered if why Tobin was like this had something to do with her.

Did she say something wrong on their date? Did Tobin lie about having a good time? That can’t be because Tobin had told her she wanted a second one.

So what was up?

“What’s happenin’ A-Morgs?” Ashlyn asked, throwing her arm around the forward. Ali was on the other side of the goalie, an arm thrown around her shoulders as well.

“Oh hey Ashlyn, hey Ali. How’s it goin?” she asked, internally trying to brighten herself up so they wouldn’t ask anything. Ashlyn, who was oblivious to pretty much everything, shrugged.

“Can’t complain. Where’s your girl?”

“What are you talking about? I don’t have a girl.” Alex rolled her eyes.

“You know…Miss Badass. Miss I Run This School. Miss I Force Teachers Into Early Retirement. Miss-”

“She gets it, Ash,” Ali said smacking her girlfriend across her stomach.

“I’m just saying… So anyways, how’d the date go?”

“It went well. I had fun.” Ashlyn was about to pry some more, but Ali silently stopped her. She sensed something was wrong with Alex and was the reason her answers were so short.

“That’s cool,” the blonde said instead.

The bell then rang, signaling that it was time to go to first period.

“See you at lunch, Alex,” Ali said the defender waved. The forward smiled and nodded.

..

Fourth period had just ended and Tobin hadn’t shown up for class. Alex began to get worried so when the bell rang, she went to go look for her. She asked Hope, and the girl said she would most likely be by the fountain in the courtyard.

She went out there, and sure enough, Tobin was laying down on the edge of the fountain. Alex stood over her.

“You’re blocking my sun,” Tobin said, feeling someone’s presence.

“The sun isn’t out Tobin.”

The badass peaked an eye open and saw that it was Alex, and closed it again. An awkward silence washed over them. The forward didn’t really know what to do. It was obvious to her that something was bothering Tobin

“I uh- are you okay?” she asked. “You looked upset this morning and it seems like you still are…”

“Why do you care?”

“Look, I don’t know what I am to you and I don’t know what we are, but that doesn’t mean I don’t care,” Alex said softly. “You can talk to me, you know.”

“Actually I don’t know. Why don’t you just fuck off, Princess.” Alex was taken aback. All she wanted to do was help and see if she could cheer her up.

“Did I do something to you? Was there something I said on our date or…”

“No,” the badass answered. She hadn’t moved from her horizontal position and her eyes were still closed.

“Then don’t take whatever is going on with you out on me.” Tobin sat up slowly and saw nothing but hurt and confusion in Alex’s eyes. She felt bad. She really did. She knew Alex didn’t deserve the treatment she was giving her, but she couldn’t help it.

The forward walked without another word. Any chance Tobin had to apologize was gone. She groaned loudly and laid back down.

..

“Tell your friend to get her shit together, Hope,” Lauren Cheney said as she walked up to the girl behind the bleachers.

“Woah, what’s up with the hostility?” the dark-haired girl held her hands up in surrender.

“Alex told me what happened at lunch. Your friend was taking her problems out on her, when she was only trying to help.” Now Hope knew why she was pissed. Tobin had told her what happened as well and how she felt bad.

“Look, even I don’t fuck with Tobin when she’s in one of her moods,” she said. “It makes you feel better, she’s sorry about what happened and she didn’t mean to be a bitch.”

“It doesn’t. I don’t want her apology, but Alex does. She needs to figure out what she wants before she goes around playing with people’s emotions,” the curly haired soccer player spat.

“Lauren, practice is about to…” Abby Wambach paused as she realized that her teammate was not alone. “..start.” She noticed how Cheney’s arms were folded with an accusing look on her face and how Hope Solo was looking at everything but the girl in front her.

“Tell her what I said.” Hope gave a curt nod.

..

“Yo Heath.” Tobin looked up, pausing as she was about to put on her helmet. Hope was walking casually over to her, swinging her keys in a wide circle by her lanyard.

“Sup.”

Hope shrugged. “At soccer practice Alex’s guard dog jumped on me. Cheney is one scary bitch when she wants to be.”

Tobin laughed for the first time all day.

“Lauren scared _you_?” she asked.

“I wasn’t scared, just caught off guard.” Hope’s jaw tightened when Tobin laughed some more. She _was_ secretly happy though, that Tobin was in a better mood now. “Apologize dude.”

“I will.”

“Cause if you don’t, those benjimans are mine,” she smirked.

“Fuck you.”

“Please, you are definitely not my type.” This type both Tobin and Hope laughed. “I’m calling Wing Stop,” she said when she felt her stomach grumble. “Then I’m headin’ to the crib.”

“Aight. You know what I want.” The taller girl nodded, then went to her truck.

Tobin noticed Alex with her gym bag ten minutes later speed walking to her car. She hopped off her bike and ran to catch up with the girl. The soccer played jumped, startled at the sudden presence.

“I can’t talk right now, Tobin. I need to get home,” she said.

“Well when can you talk?”

“I honestly don’t know,” Alex said, stuffing her bags in her trunk. She slammed it shut and then unlocked her car.

“Can I call you?”

“I really have to go,” she continued. Not even giving Tobin a chance to say anything else, she stepped in the car and began backing out. To avoid being run over, the badass moved out the way.

This would be the second time she was left in the parking lot by Alex, confused.

The week went by and Tobin still hadn’t had a chance to talk to Alex. Even in the class they shared, they either had too much work to be talking or they were separated by being put in groups. In the hallways Alex was always surrounded by her wolf pack of friends.

Everyday after school she would try to get her attention, but Alex was always in a hurry to get home. At first she thought she was being avoided, but then she realized maybe Alex _had_ to get home. Tobin didn’t know for what reason, but it must have been important.

Despite asking if she could call Alex earlier in the week, she was actually a little bit nervous to now. That was a whole four days ago. It was Friday now; a whole week ago they were on a date, enjoying themselves. It seems as though they had taken one step forward and two steps back.

..

“Guys, I’m really not in the mood to party tonight,” Alex whined as Christen and Kelley dragged her into some jock’s house. HAO, Lauren, Ashlyn, and Ail were right behind them.

Someone from their school hosted parties like this every weekend so did she really have to go to this one? Especially in the mood she was in?

“You haven’t been in the mood for anything all week,” Lauren retorted. “You need to have fun.”

“I’ve been having fun,” Alex argued.

“Doing whatever it is you do the second practice ends? I don’t think so,” Christen said. “Tonight we are gonna get wasted and party til we’re purple!”

“I LOVE BEING PURPLE!” Kelley exclaimed.

“We’re going to the place where all the action is!”

“GOOFY GOOB-”

“Okay that’s enough,” Lauren cut off, rolling her eyes. The thing is though, no one was even paying attention to them; the music was too loud and people were too drunk to care if they did hear.

“Anyone want drinks?” Everyone nodded yes and looked at Alex expectantly. Drinking was the last thing she wanted to do. Ever. Since her dad started, she had sworn off all alcohol. Alex wanted to be aware of what she was doing at all times.

“I don’t drink,” she simply said. The group groaned.

“Come on Baby Horse! Loosen up!” Kelley begged.

“No.” She wasn’t going to cave in on this one.

It had been two hours since they first arrived at the party and all Alex wanted to do was go home. Her feet were killing her and she had been hit on more than enough times. She was having good time though. Kelley, Lauren, Christen and the rest made sure of that, which she was grateful for.

..

“Alex,” the forward heard. She turned around and was met with a strong whiff of alcohol. She immediately backed up and tried not to gag. Servando was standing in front of her clearly drunk. He swayed side to side and had a sly grin on his face.

“Hey Serv. Are you having a good time?” she asked.

“I’ve had a lovely time,” he slurred. “Whatever this is, it’s delicious,” Servando said pointing to his cup.

“How many drinks have you had?”

“I am not as think as you drunk I am.” Normally Alex would have laughed at the messed up sentence, but Servando was stepping closer and closer to her with every word and invading her personal space.

“I’m gonna go get you some water,” she said. The boy grabbed her wrist and pulled her back.

“I don’t want water, I want you.” And with that he slammed his lips onto hers. It was sloppy and quite honestly it was gross. Alex was frozen in her spot for a moment before she realized what was happening and pushed him off.

“You’re drunk, Servando,” she said wiping her mouth.

“What is it because of that good for nothing soon to be high school drop out?” He spat.

“Don’t talk about her like that,” she defended.

“So what you are into girls now then? Is that why you won’t be with me?” His voice had risen.

“Gender has nothing to do with it, Servando!”

“Then what is it, Alex!?”

..

Tobin walked back inside from the pool and noticed people gathered around in a circle. She also heard a male’s voice yelling, but it was kind of muffled because of the loud music. She didn’t care much about what was going down until she heard Alex’s raspy voice.

“Servando, you’re hurting me.”

Without a second thought, she pushed her way through the crowd.

Tobin threw Servando off of Alex, then proceeded to get all in his face.

“How dare you,” she spat.

“I’m tired of you, Heath! You just always have to get in the way don’t you?”

No one knew what happened in the next second, but the second after that, Tobin and Servando were grabbing each other and throwing hands. The boy swung his fist around and barely missing the badass’ face. Tobin thrust her knee and momentarily knocked the wind of out him.

“Both of you stop!” They heard Alex yell. Neither one of them stopped.

The whole house was cheer and instigating.

Hope came around the corner.

“I got 50 on Tobin,” she said to the closest person, which happened to be a football player.

“Well duh,” he scoffed. “Servando’s gonna get his ass whooped!” Hope shrugged, now liking this dude.

Servando tripped Tobin, making her hit the ground hard. Immediately he jumped on her, trying to hit her. Before he could do so, Tobin grabbed his arm. She had to use all her strength to keep him from moving it.

“I take that back. 100 on Servando,” he said. They shook hands and watched the two go at it.

“COME ON TOBIN, KICK HIS ASS!” she cheered.

Neither Servando or Tobin knew that Alex was right behind them and when Servando finally got his arm back, he didn’t have time to control it and it hit Alex.

Silence went through out the house.

Alex stood shocked, her hand reaching for her mouth. Blood stained her fingertips and began to trickle down her chin.

Servando eyes widened.

“Alex..it was an accident. I tried to-”

That’s when Tobin lost it. A new wave of strength washed over her and without warning she kicked Servando off of her, threw him on the ground and began punching him in the face repeatedly. Her face was red with anger.

“Don’t you ever come near her again, do you understand me? Don’t touch her” punch “don’t look at her” punch “don’t even think about her” punch “If you put your hands on her again, I swear to God I’ll kill you!”

Servando was becoming too weak to fight off Tobin now. His eyes were beginning to roll in the back of his head and Tobin still hadn’t let up

“Tobin please,” Alex cried.

The badass couldn’t hear anything and all she saw was red.

“TOBIN,” Hope barked, coming onto the scene. She grabbed her friend who was still swinging trying to hit the boy. “You are scaring Alex.”

Tobin’s thrashing stopped and she looked up, the redness draining from her face. She saw fear in Alex’s eyes. The forward’s hands were clasped over her mouth, tears rushing down her face.

“Alex,” she whispered, stepping forward. The other girl took a step back.

Then she ran out the house through the front door.

Alex’s friend came through the back at the exact moment. They looked around at the large crowd, then at Alex’s retreating figure. Lauren’s eyes landed on Tobin.

“What the hell did you do to her?” she screamed in her face.

“I didn’t do anything! _I_ stood up for _your_ friend when this asshole decided to put his hands on her!” the badass yelled back, pointing to Servando who was still on the floor. (He was still breathing thankfully. Tobin didn’t want to go to jail for murder.)

“What?” Kelley asked, shocked

“I’m going after her,” Tobin said, ignoring the girl.

..

Tobin found Alex at a park a couple blocks away from the house. She was sitting in one of the swings. Silently, the badass went and sat down on the swing next to the forward’s.

“I’m sorry,” Tobin said, looking around at nothing in particular. It was the first time she had apologized for anything since she had been kicked out. “For scaring you…I didn’t- I would never hurt you like that, no matter how angry I was. And I’m sorry for treating you like shit the other day. Are you okay?” She still hadn’t found the courage to look over at the soccer player yet.

Alex looked at Tobin. Feeling her eyes on her, the badass turned her head towards her. Other than a swollen lip and puffy eyes, she looked completely fine.

“I will be. And thanks for apologizing,” Alex said with a weak smile. Tobin half smiled back, still feeling a little guilty. She never wanted to see her like this ever again. The bet was completely forgotten, all she felt was the need to protect Alex and see that carefree girl she saw on their date.

“Why do you do it?” Tobin was broken out of her trance by the question.

“Do what?” she asked confused.

“Push people away…”

Tobin sighed. Alex deserved to know the truth and why she acted the way she did.

“When I was sixteen, my mother kicked me out,” she started. Alex gasped.

“I’m so sorry. If it makes you uncomfortable, you don’t have to-”

“No. I want you to know.” When Alex grabbed her hand, Tobin felt a spark of electricity flow through her hand and up her body. She ignored it. “So uh…I was kicked out. I stayed with Hope sometimes, and other times Hope and I couldn’t even stay in her house so we kind of just chilled outside all night or whatever. I was so angry. Hope was no better cause her home life sucked… My parents kicked me out cause I told them I liked girls,” Tobin laughed bitterly. “They are your classic small town church folk that waited til marriage for sex.” She shook her head.

“I was so lost,” she continued. “I was struggling with it forever, hating myself for being an ‘abomination’. Hope was the only one that knew. I was hoping that they would say that they loved me no matter what, you know? I was wrong.”

“I don’t really know what happened, but all of a sudden, I just stopped caring. When people at school found out I was gay, some people embraced me, and by embraced I mean threw themselves at me, and other started bullying me. To avoid being the one getting hurt, I just started doing the hurting I guess.”

“That day, when I went off…I was mad because my mother called. She said she and my dad wanted me to come home to talk, but it was the most pathetic attempt ever. I just-” Tobin exhaled loudly. She couldn’t bring herself to finish the sentence.

She hadn’t even realized she was crying until Alex reached up and wiped a tear from her face.


	6. New Statuses

“Alex?” Tobin asked while the soccer player was cleaning her cuts. She was sitting on counter in her bathroom while Alex stood in between her legs.

The badass had invited the soccer player to her apartment since the girl didn’t want to go home or back to the party. Alex noticed that Tobin was bleeding or at least had been, and insisted on taking care of her.

“Yes?” she asked back, not taking her eyes off of the wound. Tobin wondered if Alex knew how close her face was to hers. Their noses were maybe six inches apart.

“Could you maybe not tell anyone…” Alex stopped dabbing the cut on her forehead and gave her a confused look. “About, you know, the park…”

“About how you cried?” the forward joked. Tobin scoffed.

“My eyes were sweating,” she argued.

“Uh huh,” Alex giggled. Tobin felt a strange feeling in her chest seeing Alex smile. Maybe it was pride in herself for bringing a smile to the girl’s face. She wanted to see it again that was for sure. And again. “I won’t tell anyone.”

“You better not. It’ll ruin my badass reputation and we can’t have that.” The soccer player went back to tending to Tobin’s forehead. The badass winced as the alcohol got into it.

“Sorry,” the forward whispered. When she was done, she moved badass’ face around to check for anymore scratches. Tobin looked at Alex in amusement.

“I think I’m good now mom,” Tobin said, pulling the girl’s hands away from her face, but not letting go once she did. “Thanks for fixing me up.” Alex looked down, finding her shoes very interesting. Not liking the fact that she couldn’t see her blue eyes anymore, she lifted Alex’s chin with her thumb and index finger. She stared the girl down til she looked at her.

“Just don’t get into anymore fights. I’m not certified at this, you know.” Tobin smiled. “Thanks for standing up for me by the way. No one’s ever done that for me before.” The badass frowned.

“They should have. If I were them, I would have jumped at the opportunity,” she said sincerely. This time the forward smiled.

Tobin hopped down off the counter and unintentionally pressed her body against Alex’s. The soccer player blushed a deep red. The look that Tobin was giving her gave her a weird feeling. Tobin placed her hands on Alex’s hips and slowly backed her up so she had more room to move. For a split second her eyes dropped from Alex’s own to her lips. Mentally shaking her head, she stepped past the girl and walked through the door back into her bedroom.

She came back moments later with a pair of sweatpants, a t-shirt, a pair of underwear, and some towels.

“You can uh, wear these. I haven’t worn the underwear I promise. I don’t even know how I got them honestly. I think maybe my sister got me like a whole package or something. Anyways um…they should fit you,” Tobin rambled, frowning afterward at how dumb she sounded. Alex accepted the items with a smile then closed the door.

..

Hope walked into the apartment about five minutes after Alex had entered the shower. Tobin came into the living room and greeted her. But the taller girl was confused. If Tobin was in here, then who was in the shower.

“Is who I think it is in there?” she asked, a wicked smile slowly forming on her face.

“Depends. Who do you think it is?” Tobin replied sarcastically.

“My little girl is growing up…” Hope wiped away a fake tear.

“Shut up, dude. She’s been through a lot tonight and she didn’t want to go home, alright?” The shorter girl explained, plopping down on the recliner in the living room.

Hope studied her friend long and good. She didn’t have to be able to read minds to know that Tobin was thinking about Alex at this very moment. Her eyes had glazed over, something they tended to do when she was thinking. Hope also noticed the faint smile that appeared on Tobin’s face when she hinted at the unknown guest being Alex.

“You actually like her, don’t you?”

“What? You’re crazy, bro,” Tobin waved off.

“You totally do!”

“So what?” Tobin cut quickly, catching Hope off guard. The other girl shrugged nonchalantly.

“Nothing man. I just never though you’d- you know- ever like someone, besides me anyway.” Tobin shrugged.

“Alex is different. It’s like she’s been through so much, but she hasn’t let it change who she is…”

“Well, what has she been through?” Hope asked, intrigued.

“I don’t really know, but I feel like there is something she’s not letting on.”

The two heard the shower stop and looked at each other. Actually it was more like Hope smirked and Tobin glared at her. The shorter girl got up and walked back into her room.

..

Tobin walked in a found Alex sitting awkwardly on her bed.

“You can have the bed. I would sleep on the couch, but that’s kind of Hope’s makeshift bed so, I’ll take the floor,” she told the soccer player.

“Absolutely not, Tobin! You the one who got into a fight earlier,” Alex pointed out.

“Yes, but you’re the guest, Superstar. Just take the offer,” she smirked, liking for some reason that the soccer player was arguing with her about a bed.

“No. You are going to regret it in the morning if you sleep on the floor,” the forward continued to argue.

“Then you sleep on the floor,” Tobin suggested, fighting off a smug grin from forming on her face.

“Definitely not,” Alex scoffed. She sat down on her bed. “You are going to take a shower, then you are going to lay down next to me,” she commanded. The badass held her hands up in surrender.

Tobin took twenty minutes to take her shower then she was out. She was wearing nothing but a sports bra and a pair of SpongeBob boxers. Alex was obviously checking her out which brought a smug grin to her face. The soccer player frowned at a spot on her torso. Tobin noticed this and looked down. There as a purple bruise on her left side.

“Alex,” she said, grabbing the forward’s attention. Alex looked up. “I’m fine, I promise

After another attempt at sleep on the floor, Alex pushed her onto the bed.

“Wait, where’s your shirt?” she asked.

“I don’t sleep in a shirt,” Tobin answered like it was the most obvious thing in the world.

“Tobin, put on a shirt.”

“There’s a price that comes with sleeping with _the_ Tobin Heath, babe,” she smirked.

“Ugh, you are so immature,” Alex groaned, rolling over so her back was facing Tobin.

“You like it.”

After that, the badass fell asleep almost immediately. She hadn’t even realized how tired she was.

Unconsciously, Tobin’s arm slipped around Alex’s waist. The forward froze not really knowing what to do. She could tell that Tobin was asleep by the deep breathing. Surprisingly, feeling the girl’s heartbeat against her back soothed her into a slumber as well.

..

It was about 10:30 in the morning when Tobin woke up. As the seconds past by, she was slowly remembering the night before and why Alex’s face was in the crook of her neck.

She looked down at the girl in her arms, secretly admiring how perfectly their bodies molded together.

Alex looked so peaceful and content.

Oh she was definitely falling in like with Alex. And she was falling fast.

And another thing; Alex was definitely right. She was sore everywhere. She was sore in places she didn’t even know could get sore until now. Tobin would have regretted it enormously if she had slept on the floor. Even her knuckles hurt like hell.

Suddenly the door swings open and Hope is standing in the doorway, smirking at the picture in front of her.

“Don’t even-”

“I wasn’t going to,” Hope said, not even bothering to hide her amusement. “Your sister is here, dude.”

This made Tobin lift her head up.

“Which one?”

“Perry.”

The last time she had spoken to Perry was a few weeks ago. Her sister had just graduated college was looking for a job and apartment with her boyfriend in the main parts of LA.

Carefully and quietly, Tobin lifted Alex’s head off her chest and put a pillow underneath it. She then threw on some random shirt and walked out of her room.

Her sister waiting for them on the couch. Perry was much like Tobin in the since that she was calm, but she definitely didn’t have the same temper. They also had the same smile as well. However, Tobin was the only one in the family with light colored hair. Her sisters both had dark brown, almost black hair.

“Hey sis. What brings you to the crib?”

“Honestly?” Perry asked. Tobin gave her a look. “Mom and Dad sent me.”

..

Alex woke up in an unfamiliar bed, in an unfamiliar room, in an unfamiliar place. Immediately, she began to panic. Sitting up quickly, she looked around the room. There were about six skateboards (long boards? whatever you call them) scattered randomly, posters of Victoria’s Secret models, and a lot of plaid clothing dangling from various area’s.

_Oh yeah, Tobin’s room_ , she thought

Her head snapped to the posters again.

“How did I not notice that before?” she asked out loud. She looked at the clock. It was right at 11 o clock.

Suddenly she heard loud noises coming from the living room. Alex could make out Tobin’s voice, but there was another voice she didn’t recognize. Letting curiosity get the best of her, she hopped out of bed and went to go investigate.

The second she walked in the room, everyone got quiet. Alex saw Tobin who was standing up, Hope who was rummaging through the fridge, and another female who looked to be an older version of Tobin with darker hair.

“I told you to keep your voice down,” Tobin said accusingly.

“Who the heck is this Tobin?” the woman asked, standing up and pointing at her. “Is this another one of your sluts? You told me you were done with that crap!”

“Whoa hold up,” Alex commanded. “I am _not_ a slut,” she said folding her arms.

“Then who are you?”

“She’s not a slut Per, calm down okay?” Tobin asked, intervening. “This is Alex Morgan, she’s my um…we’ve kind of been- uh, well-”

“What? Sleeping together?” Alex blushed at how up front the question was. Tobin blushed at the truth of it, but how it was just in the wrong sense.

“No, Perry!”

“Then what Tobin?”

“They’re dating,” Hope said rolling her eyes, sitting down on the couch next to where Perry was previously sitting.

“ _Dating_? Seriously?” Perry asked, staring Tobin down. She gulped, looking at Alex for confirmation. Tobin’s sisters always knew how to break down her ‘badass’ walls to get information

“Yes, we are,” Alex answered for her, noticing the discomfort in her…whatever Tobin was to her.

What were they anyway? Especially after last night’s events plus her sleeping over…

Hope phone rang, silencing anything that any of them were about to say.

“Hello?” she answered. “Calm down Squirrel, she’s here…at Tobin’s place…no, she’s fine I promise…nah Tobin doesn’t have the balls to do something like that,” she laughed. Tobin hopped over the couch over to Hope.

“Who are you talking to?!” she asked, reaching for the cellular device. Hope, being taller, had the advantage. Tobin then began to wheeze, bending over to put her hands on her knee.

"Shit that was dumb," she coughed out. "Ouch…"

“Just come over, I’ll text you the address..yeah…yes…alright…okay later,” she hung up.

Alex rushed over to Tobin to check on her. The badass was trying to hide the pain, but was doing an awful job at it. The soccer player went and made an ice pack for her, wrapping it up in a kitchen towel and placing it on her stomach. “You’re so stupid for fighting for me.”

"I don’t regret it." The two stared at each other for what seemed like an eternity before the soccer player broke the eye contact.

“Squirrel?” Alex asked. “Was that Kelley?”

“Yeah, she’s coming over to pick you up in an hour,” Hope said. The soccer player nodded and walked out the room to get dressed.

"Tobin what happened to you?" her sister asked.

"Had a little disagreement with someone last night…"

..

In the next 30 minutes, the argument Tobin and her sister were having about their parents was forgotten. After apologizing, Perry and Alex clicked almost instantly, the two of them plus Hope making fun of Tobin, much to her dismay. With the arrival of Kelley though, Hope was thrown into the mix of being ridiculed. She and Tobin were pouting from the kitchen with their arms folded.

“This is bullshit,” Hope mumbled to Tobin.

“I couldn’t agree more.”

Perry was telling a story of when the two of them were kids and they were being chased down the street by a chihuahua with a napoleon complex. The two of them ran into the Heath residence, tears rushing down their face. Hope had lost her shoes in the process and Tobin had snatched off her pants because the dog had latched itself onto them.

“Aw! You have to bring the photo album next time!” Kelley said to Perry.

“NO!” Tobin and Hope screamed simultaneously, making the three girls break out into another round of laughter.

The two let out a sigh of relief when Perry claimed that she needed to get going. “We still have more to talk about though,” she yelled through the door. Tobin nodded.

The next to say that they had to leave were Kelley and Alex. The two soccer players said their goodbyes and were on their way out the door when Hope suddenly grabs Kelley and kisses her hard on the lips. Tobin and Alex are in shock, both of their jaws on the ground, eyes wide with disbelief.

“What was that for?” Kelley asks once they’ve pulled away from each other, breathing heavily.

“There is no bell to interrupt us this time,” Hope said smirking. “If you hadn’t already gathered, I really like you Kelley.” The short defender gave the tall girl a blinding smile. She squealed, wrapping her arms around the girl’s neck and kissing her again.

Not long after, it got a little too heated, making Tobin and Alex extremely uncomfortable.

“Okay, yeah you like each other, that’s great. Please stop.”

“Yeah seriously guys, you can stop sucking face now,” Alex said, having pry Kelley off of the girl. Hope had a strong grip on Kelley too though, so Tobin had to step in and help.

Once the two soccer players _finally_ left, Tobin turned to her best friend.

“Dude!” she exclaimed, throwing her hands in the air. “The fuck was that?!”

“I don’t even know man,” Hope said with a shit-eating grin on her face. She licked her lips and swiped her thumb across the corner of her mouth, still smirking.

“How long have you kept that in?”

“Too long, bro…too long.”

..

The following Monday, Tobin arrived to school a little earlier than usual. She parked her motorcycle in a regular parking spot this time and she didn’t even pull out a cigarette like she usually did.

She waited patiently on one of the benches near the parking space that Alex normally parked in. Some jocks gave her some weird looks as this area of the parking lot was their territory. It was sort of an unspoken agreement between the jocks and the outcasts/nerds/non-athletes/pretty much everyone else, that this was their area.

When Alex pulled up, Tobin immediately went to her car and opened her door for her. She grabbed her bag for her as well and slung it over her shoulder. When the soccer player gave her a questioning look, the badass just flashed her a grin.

“Someone’s happy to see me,” she said.

“Just wanted to make sure you were okay is all,” Tobin shrugged, throwing a protective arm over Alex’s shoulder. It was the truth. The second Alex left her apartment, the badass worried about the well being of Alex. The rest of that Saturday and all of Sunday, she came up with worst possible scenarios (most of them including Servando) that could happen to Alex when she wasn’t in her sight.

“I should be the one making sure you’re okay,” Alex countered

“I’m fine, see,” Tobin lifted up her shirt to show her abs. The soccer player quickly grabbed the shirt and pulled it back down, blushing furiously.

“You’re so stupid!” she scolded the badass, who wore a smirk.

“You like it.” That seemed to be Tobin’s response to everything these days.

As soon as they walked into the building, Alex’s friends (excluding Kelley) bombarded her with questions. Tobin took it as her cue to leave. She knew Alex was safe with her friends.

..

“Okay so what gives?” Lauren asked Alex the moment she sat down at their lunch table.

“What do you mean?” the forward frowned, not knowing what they were talking about.

“You and Tobin have been connected at the hip like all day,” the middy said. Alex waved her off. “No, I’m serious. She meets you at your car, she’s walked you to _every_ class, and she glares at anything that threatens to come near you. Am I imagining this?” she asked the table.

“I didn’t want to say anything, but she’s kinda right,” Christen agreed.

“I think its adorable how Tobin is all protective of her ever since the…well you know, party,” Ali said, taking a sip of her water.

“You would think that, babe,” Ashlyn said. Her girlfriend slapped her arm. “Where’s Kelley?”

“She had to go to the ‘bathroom’” Alex said, showing quotation marks with her fingers.

“What’s up with the air quotes?” Heather asked. The forward nudged her head towards the far side of the caf where her best friend was walking in.

Hope’s arm was around her shoulders and Kelley was laughing at whatever was being whispered in her ear. They looked sickeningly sweet. Like even worse than Sydney and Kristie.

The two stopped. Hope slid her hands down to Kelley’s hips and Kelley brought her arms around the taller girl’s neck. Hope leaned down and kissed her.

“WHAT IS GOING ON AT THIS SCHOOL?!” Ashlyn exclaims. “I don’t mean to quote High School Musical here, but what happened to ‘stick to the status quo?”

“So I’m not the only one seeing this?” Abby asked, coming up behind the goalkeeper.

“When the hell did that even happen?!”

“Please, we’ve all known that Hope has had the hots for Kelley since forever,” Ali said.

“And Kelley’s always loved the bad boy, or I guess bad girl, type,” Megan agreed.

“Guys! The next thing we know, all the computer nerds and band geeks are going to be coming up to us, thinking they have a chance!” Abby screeched. Ashlyn threw her hands up in agreement.

“I don’t that will happen since you and Ash scare everyone, plus lets not forget that everyone except of Cheney and A-Rod likes girls, and we’re all seeing someone,” Sydney pointed out

“What’s all the commotion about guys?” Kelley asked as she came up to the table.

“When did _that_ happen?” HAO asked her, pointing to Hope who was leaning up against the wall in a more secluded part of the cafeteria and who had _yet_ to take her eyes off of Kelley. Conveniently, she was standing next to Tobin who was staring at Alex as she did everyday.

“Saturday,” the defender said happily. “At Tobin’s.”

Sydney grabbed Ali’s water bottle from her hand, took a swig, then spewed it out on some poor kid who was passing by.

“WHAT?” she exclaimed. “First this one,” she said pointing to Alex, “plays nurse and then sleeps with Tobin-”

“Let’s watch our verbiage shall we? We _slept_ okay? And that’s _all_ we did,” the forward cut in.

“-and now we find out that you paid a little surprise visit to her house as well? Like some freaking mini party of four!?”

“Actually it was five. Tobin’s sister was there,” Kelley said nonchalantly.

“Okay now I’m with Ash and Abby, something strange is happening at this school,” Lauren commented.

..

Tobin and Hope watched the soccer girls’ table in amusement. The school’s goalkeeper, and other star forward were flailing their arms widely using hand gestures and what not.

“Hey look,” Hope spoke up. “Pretty boy is not so pretty anymore,” she chuckled.

Servando looked like shit to be honest.  He had a black eye, both of his cheeks were swollen, and his arms were covered in bruises.

“You fucked him up pretty good dude.” Tobin pounded her first with her best friend’s grinning smugly


	7. Kiss The Girl

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> She's turning 18 soon. Isn't her life supposed to get easier from here?

When Alex got home from school on Monday, it was clear to her that her father was high. His eyes were blood shot and he didn’t seem to know where he was. Empty beer bottles were scattered around him as well. She had seen him messed up a few times, but this had to be by far the worst.

“Alexandra?”

“Yes, dad?” she asked, cautiously moving through the living room almost afraid that if she made a sudden movement, he would go off.

“That’s a couch right?” Michael asked, pointing to the piece of furniture that was across the room. Alex wasn’t even sure if his eyes were open or not, he was squinting so much.

“Yeah…”

“And I can understand why they call it a couch,” he nodded. “But this shit right here…” he said, gesturing to the love seat that was adjacent to his recliner, “…this is love seat! I can’t even sit on this is I ain’t in love, what kind of shit is that?”

 

Alex didn’t know if she wanted to laugh or cry, or maybe she would do both later. She wished that she had the courage to talk to her father. To ask him to stop problem drinking and doing drugs. Or maybe to ask him to see a counselor- something to keep him from going further down this path.

But she was scared. What if someone saw him there and they made Alex move into a new home or something? Sure she was turning 18 in a week, but living with her parents, more recently just with her dad, is the only thing she’s ever known.

Her father had fallen asleep but she still made his dinner. She made sure to leave a little more than she usually does, cause every time he’s coming down from his high, he eats everything in the house. Alex made a mental note to go to the store later as well.

..

Alex walked out of her mother’s hospital room at about 9:30 when the older woman had finally fallen asleep from her meds. She felt much better after talking to her, even if they didn’t even talk about anything important.

She did her best not to mention the home situation, cause Alex’s well being should have been the least of her worries. They mainly talked about soccer, school, and surprisingly, Tobin.

It wasn’t even Alex that had brought up Tobin, it was her mother. She asked her about ‘that one girl’ who was giving her a hard time and if their relationship was better. All Alex could say was yes, their relationship _was_ better. That was the best she could come up with. It wasn’t exactly a lie

“Hey!” The forward looked up from the tiles and saw Tobin’s older sister and another woman with her who looked similar to her. “Um…Alex right?”

“Yeah, and you’re Perry, Tobin’s sister,” she said. The woman smiled brightly and pulled her into a hug.

“It’s good to see you! This is Katie, she’s the oldest out of all of us,” Perry said. The other woman, Katie, pulled Alex into a hug as well. Alex wondered if all the Heath’s were touchy-feely like these two. “This is Alex Morgan, the one I was telling you about that was dating Tobin.”

“I remember,” Katie said. “So uh, how did you manage to date Tobin?” The soccer player frowned. “What I mean by that is, from what I’ve heard, our little sister doesn’t really have the best reputation and hasn’t really been interested in anyone until recently…”

“I mean, we’ve only been on one date, but…Well your sister is very persistent,” Alex chuckled. “She asked me out for weeks before I finally said yes.”

“Katie, you should see it. Tobin gets so uncomfortable and nervous when I bring her up! And I’m glad she did ask you out cause you are just adorable!” Perry cooed. Alex blushed.

“As am I,” Katie agreed. “We needed someone to get to Tobin and get her back in control.” Perry nodded.

“So what are you two doing here?” Alex asks.

“One of our classmates just had a baby,” Katie answered. “What about you? It’s pretty late for you to be at a hospital…and by yourself at that.”

Alex contemplated on telling them the reason she was here. She thought about it, and there was really no point in lying to them. Perry and Katie had done nothing to make her not trust them, and they seemed so caring. Both of their soft brown eyes showed genuine concern and confusion.

“I come here everyday to visit my mother. She uh…she has cancer and uh- yeah,” she finished.

“Oh my goodness! I’m so sorry to hear that,” Katie says.

“You poor thing.” Alex smiles sadly at them.

“You two would actually be the first people I’ve told since moving here,” she admits.

"Not even Tobin?"

"She has her assumptions about my whole family, but…I haven’t even told Kelley and she’s my best friend. I don’t want everyone finding out and giving me pity. I want to tell Tobin, but there’s still a part of me that can’t trust her and i hope you understand. Just weeks ago she was considered the school’s biggest player."

They both nodded.

“Listen Hun, if you ever need anyone to talk to, we are here,” Perry said, giving her shoulder a gentle squeeze.

“That’s right,” Katie agreed. “Lemme see your phone and we’ll put our numbers in.”

After exchanging numbers, the three said their goodbyes. Alex felt even better than she had before. It was nice knowing she could talk to someone about her mother. She’d never thought it would be Tobin’s _sisters_ , but it was still nice all the same.

..

Tobin and Alex had developed a routine- a system if you will- over the next week. Everyday the badass would meet the soccer player by her car and grab her things for her. She’d throw her arm over her shoulder, they’d walk into the building, and Tobin would lead her to every class. After each class the badass would ask her how the class went and Alex would ramble and she’d listen. They parted at lunch, but that was it.

They’d even gotten around to texting each other regularly. Tobin really liked what they had going on. It was nice.

“Hey Hope?”

“Wassup?” the taller girl asked, never taking her eyes off the pitch

The two were watching the soccer team practice, this time _in_ the bleachers instead of being hidden behind them.

“What’s it like being tied down?” Tobin asked.

“Really the same I guess. I mean Kelley and I have been playing this Tom and Jerry game forever now, but its nice knowing I can kiss her and hold her and do whatever I want, you know? Sure I could do that before with some random chick, but this time there’s actual feelings there and I know its being reciprocated,” Hope answered with a smile on her face.

“Reciprocated?”

“Yeah…”

“That’s a big word for you dude. Kelley teach you that?” Tobin smirked. Hope rolled her eyes and pushed her friend.

“Shut up, asshole.” Hope suddenly threw her finger up in the air as she remembered something. “Hey doesn’t your sister and her husband have a beach house?”

“Yeah why?”

“I mean its a long weekend. We should head up there…with Kelley and Alex,” she suggested. Tobin thought for a moment. That could be fun; just the four of them. And she could take Alex on that date she wanted to. And she had been craving to get some waves in forever now. This could be perfect.

“Yeah okay…I’ll ask Alex.”

“Have you tried to kiss her yet?” The question caught Tobin off guard.

“Who Alex?”

“No, your mother dipshit.” Tobin sighed, not even feeling the need to respond with a witty comeback.

“I have not,” she said.

“Are you sure you’re gay dude? Are you sick or something?” Hope brought her hand up to Tobin’s forehead to check her temperature only to have it pushed away.

“I don’t want to seem too eager you know? We’ve only been on _one_ date. Don’t people start to do all the physical stuff after they’ve been on a few and are like official?

“Well yeah I guess, but its been like a month that you two have been like…a thing”

“Her friends don’t trust me cause of my rep. I just want to prove them wrong…Alex said she likes this side of me; The other side of the ‘womanizer and bully’. I just don’t want to come on too strong.”

“I feel you,” Hope nodded. She decided not to bring up the bet. She was pretty sure Tobin had forgotten about it and she figured now wasn’t the time to remind her. She had her own relationship to worry about anyway.

..

“Hey there, Superstar,” Tobin said, walking up to Alex on the pitch once the team’s practice was over.

“Hey Tobin,” Alex smiled. She took the hem of her shirt and used it to wipe the sweat off her face. Tobin stared hard at the forward’s taut stomach. She knew it wasn’t right, but she couldn’t help herself. Suddenly the wonderful view was being obstructed by the clothing coming back down. Her eyes shot up. “Did you enjoy watching practice?”

“Of course. I always enjoy watching you in your element,” she said honestly. Alex started to walk away towards the parking lot, so she followed her. “So I was wondering what you had going on this weekend.”

Alex thought about telling Tobin that her birthday was on Sunday. “I have quite a few things…what’s up?”

“Oh well Hope and I were thinking about heading up to my sister’s beach house for the weekend and we were wondering if you and Kelley wanted to join us.”

“I don’t know if I can…” Alex saw disappointment wash over Tobin’s face. “I mean want to! And I know Kelley would too,” she said quickly. “I just don’t know if my parents will let me. My dad has had thing planned and its…complicated,” she sighed.

Things have been kind of strange lately at the Morgan household. Since the Monday incident, everything has taken a complete 180. And by 180 she meant, her father was actually talking to her without threats or sounding high. He was dressing nicer and he was even smiling.

Maybe things were going back to normal. Alex was hoping the sudden change was for her birthday. In fact, the couldn’t think of a better present than to get things back the way they were. Whatever the reason, she wanted to cherish it while it lasted.

“Oh…complicated…”

“I’m sorry Tobin. If things change, I promise I’ll let you know.” Alex felt bad. She really did.

“Nah it’s alright. I understand,” the badass assured. Alex wanted to say that she would never understand, but she knew Tobin was trying to be open-minded and she appreciated that. “Maybe some other time, yeah?”

“Definitely.”

“Let’s get you to your car then.”

..

“Okay seriously they are so cute, it makes me want to rip out my eyes,” Sydney said to anyone who would listen. Kristie, Heather, Ali, Ashlyn, and Christen were next to her nodding their heads in agreement.

Hope was walking Kelley to her car. They were holding hands and swinging their arms back and forth between them. Hope had on her usual smirk/bitchface and nodding along to whatever Kelley was saying.

“They are so different…but it’s adorable! I’m legit jealous right now!” Christen exclaims.

Christen was spot on with the difference thing. Hope was tall and wore nothing but dark clothing and inappropriate Nike shirts. Kelley was a good five inches shorter than her and was basically your typical California white girl. Everything about Hope screamed ‘don’t fuck with me’ and Kelley was more of a ‘I’m gonna make you be my best friend’.

“They make me want to grab a giant tub of Ben and Jerry’s and watch the Notebook til I can’t cry anymore. And then pour eye drops in my eyes so I can have the satisfaction of tears without actually crying,” HAO admitted. Everyone gave her a weird look. “Just ignore me.”

“Okay they aren’t _that_ cute. That’s borderline depression right there,” Ashlyn said, earning a laugh from the group.

“Isn’t Alex’s birthday coming up?” Ali asked..

“Oh yeah, Baby Horse is turning 18 on Sunday I think,” Kristie said. “We should do something for her.”

“Definitely. Like a surprise party or something…”

“Alex hates surprises. That’s ones out,” Sydney said. “We could all stop by her house though.”

“Where does she even live?”

Everyone frowned. That was a good question. None of them had actually been to Alex’s house. They’ve never even seen her parents before.

“I’m sure Kelley knows,” Ashlyn shrugged.

..

By the time Thursday got around, Alex was ready to give up on life. She was so tired and wanted nothing more than to just sleep. Her teachers were laying a whole bunch of unnecessary work on her left and right. She couldn’t even visit her mother last night because of an AP English assignment.

Today she just didn’t care. Alex threw on the first pair of sweatpants she could find and t-shirt. It was one of those days.

When Tobin saw her, she laughed. She knew she looked like shit, she didn’t need to ask what was so funny.

“You’re so mean…” The forward tried to swing a fist into the badass’ arm, but Tobin dodged out of the way. And laughed some more making the other girl pout.

“Come on, Superstar, don’t be like that.” Tobin poked Alex underneath her ribcage making her let out an embarrassing yelp. The badass laughed again. “You look nice in anything you wear,” she said sincerely, grabbing the arm that was trying to hit her again.

Alex’s blue eyes stared into Tobin’s brown ones, a blush appearing on her face. The badass’ hand slid down the soccer player’s forearm to her hand and she held it, running her thumb across her the back of it. Tobin noticed a few strands of hair had come loose from Alex’s ponytail so she tucked them back behind her ear.

 _This is it,_ she thought. _Now would be as good of a time as any._

The soccer brought her eyes down to Tobin’s lips, licking her own in the process. Her heart was pounding in her chest, threatening to escape. The way Tobin watched her every move was nerve wracking.

The badass finally leaned in, pausing centimeters away from Alex’s lips to give her a chance to object.

“If you don’t want me to, say something,” she whispers.

Alex doesn’t say a word.

Without thinking, and unable to hold back any longer, she closed her eyes and pressed her lips to the forward’s.

They were softer than she could have ever imagine and tasted like cherries. Kissing Alex made Tobin forget everything. Where they were, what her own name was…everything. Tobin thought that someone with her past didn’t deserve to be blessed with this pleasure she was getting from this simple act of intimacy, but if this was hell, then she didn’t want to go to heaven.

She slowly pulls away to find any signs that Alex wasn’t enjoying this like she was. Tobin doesn’t find any and leans back in with a new passion. Her hands find the forward’s hips and Alex brings her hands up around Tobin’s neck. Their lips moved in perfect synchronization.

Neither of them really want to pull away, but they are both finding it increasingly difficult to breathe and passing out from kissing, and in a parking lot at that, isn’t something that will sound good on a résumé.

Tobin and Alex part with a soft smack and lean their foreheads together, trying to catch their breath. A large grin makes its way upon the soccer player’s face.

“We should skip the rest of school,” Tobin said seriously. Her eyes are a little glazed her and her head was spinning and all she could see was Alex.

“School has to actually _start_ for us to be able to skip the _rest_ , Tobin,” Alex chuckles. The warning bell rings, letting them know that they had ten minutes before class started.

“That’s close enough, let’s go,” she said eagerly. She grabbed Alex’s hand again to try to tug her along, but the soccer player didn’t budge. “Ugh,” she groaned. Tobin grabbed Alex’s bag like she did everyday and slung her arm over the forward’s shoulders. “Let’s go,” she sighed dramatically.

Alex giggled at her, leaning into her side.

..

“Okay you’ve had that stupid ass grin on your face all day. What gives?” Kelley asked Alex in their 5th period glass.

“Can’t I just be happy?”

“Not when you’re wearing sweatpants.”

Kelley and Alex both looked down at their phones at the same time as their phones had vibrated in their laps. It as a group message with the two of them, plus Christen, HAO, Ali, Ashlyn, and Megan. Cheney had initiated the discussion.

**Lauren: YOU KISSED TOBIN?!**

**Ali: Awww!**

**Megan: She WHAT?**

**Christen: I have no words**

**HAO: Whaa….**

**Ashlyn: She as good as they say?**

**Ali: ^ that’s inappropriate.**

**Ashlyn: Sorry babe.**

Alex could feel Kelley’s eyes burning a hole in the side of her face.

“You two kissed!?” She said in hushed tone which ended up being really loud.

“You do not know how to whisper. Like at all,” the forward told her.

“When?” she demanded.

**Alex: Thanks for calling me out Chen…**

**Lauren: No problem.**

“It was this morning before school okay?”

“WHAT?”

“Miss O’Hara is there anything you’d like to share with the class?”

“No sir!” Kelley said quickly. At this point Alex had her face in her hands, trying to hide the blush that appeared on her face when everyone turned to look at them.

..

When Alex got to her house that day, there was already food on the table. Frowning, she checked her phone for the time. It was only 4:25, so her dad shouldn’t have been home yet.

“Hello Alexandra,” her father said, coming around with a suitcase. He was a pair of dress pants, a button up, and a tie was around his neck.

“Hey…dad. Are you going somewhere?” she asked, extremely confused.

“Yes actually. I didn’t tell you?” Alex shook her head no. “I’m going on a business trip in Dallas for the next week or so, depending on how smoothly it goes.”

Alex felt sick. Like she was going to throw up everything she had even eaten. Her birthday was in two days. He was supposed to be there. He was supposed to give her some giant surprise like that he had come up with enough money for her mother to have an operation that could potentially cure her illness. Not leave.

“Oh…”

“Yeah, my plane actually leaves at 7 so I better get going,” Michael said. “Happy early birthday.”

Alex stood frozen in her place. This was not how she expected the rest of her week to go.

..

“Dad’s going on a business trip for a week,” she blurted out to her mother.

“He is?” Alex nodded, resting her head on Pam’s shoulder.

“Yeah he just casually threw out ‘Happy early birthday’ on his way out the door.” The forward was holding back the tears.

“Honey, I’m so sorry. I don’t know what’s going on with him. I wish I was there with you two.”

“Me too,” the young Morgan sniffled. “I’m going to stay with you while he’s gone.”

“Alex don’t do that. You are going to be 18. You need to spend your birthday with friends and just forget about me okay?”

“Mom I can’t just forg-”

“Go have fun with your friends with weekend. I’ll be here when you get back,” Pam assured. She ran her hand through her daughter’s hair and kissed her forehead. “You worry too much. Let loose a little.”

“Are you sure?” Alex asked.

“I’ve never been more sure about anything.”

..

That night Alex sat up in her bed thinking about her mother’s words. She guessed a few nights of fun and being away from Diamond Bar wouldn’t hurt her.

**Alex: Is that offer to go to your sister’s beach house still available?**

**Tobin: Of course it is, Superstar.**

She then sent a text to her best friend.

**Alex: Pack your bags, we’re going to the beach this weekend.**

**Kelley: YES**.


	8. Two For One

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Is it time to label them? They've been dating for the longest, but does Alex even want a relationship?

“Shh!” Hope brought her attention to some kid with a hoodie who was trying to sleep with his face buried deep in some textbook and glared at him. They were in the library studying- well actually Kelley was studying and Hope was just there- and apparently she was talking too loud for him.

“Sorry dude,” Hope apologized sarcastically, then turning back to look at Kelley. “I can’t wait for this day to be over.”

“Same,” the defender sighed, tilting her head to read the next passage. Her hair drooped down and successfully created a curtain to block her girlfriend’s view of her face. Hope tucked the hair behind her ear.

She scooted her chair closer to Kelley and put an arm around her shoulders. The defender was too busy jotting down notes on a stack of index cards to notice. Hope didn’t like the fact that Kelley’s attention wasn’t on her. The tall brunette nuzzled her face in her girlfriend’s neck and inhaled the scent that was Kelley.

“Hope stop, I have to study. I need to pass this test,” the defender said distractedly, her eyes still glued to the cards. Her girlfriend planted a kiss on her jaw.

“Kel, the lowest grade you have is like a 97.”

“This is a quiet section you know,” the hooded guy stated, glaring at Hope. She threw up her middle finger at him.

“Yes I know, but I like to keep my grades up and do all my work at school so I don’t have to worry about it at home. Do you really want me to be doing work while we are at the beach instead of doing…other things with you?” she asked suggestively. Hope thought about it and no. No she did not. But still, she wanted attention from Kelley right now.

“Babe, why don’t you take a break? You’ve been working really hard,” Hope tried. She turned her girl’s head to try to kiss her. Kelley leaned in so their lips were brushing up against each other. But just as fast as the contact came, it was gone in seconds and she was standing up, leaving Hope dazed.

“I just remembered that I promised Alex I’d meet her before 6th. I’ll see you after the game.”

By the time Hope had composed herself and was on her feet, Kelley was already out the double doors. _Oh she is good…_

“Dammit!”

“SHHH!”

“No, how about you ‘shh!’ the fuck up!” Hope hissed.

“Don’t be pissed at me cause you couldn’t get any action,” he mumbled. Hope groaned and ran a hand through her thick hair. She couldn’t even respond. He was right.

..

During half time of the game, Tobin left Hope in the stands to go down to concessions. She was starving and she knew she couldn’t wait another 45+ minutes. The line was long, but to fill her stomach at least a little would be worth the wait. She sighed loudly as some lady with three kids had stepped up. The children were bouncing around everywhere and she hardly got a word out without one of them tugging on her to get her attention.

 _Wonderful_ , she thought.

“Hey,” a petite blonde said to Tobin. The badass looked expectantly at the people around, waiting for them to respond, and then realized that she was the one being spoken to.

“Oh um, hey,” she said carelessly, turning her attention back to the unmoving line. She stuffed her hands in her camo cargo shorts and distributed her weight to her right leg.

“I’m Vanessa.” Tobin noticed that Vanessa had really pretty green eyes. “I go to North Shore.” North Shore was the team that Diamond Bar was playing tonight.

“Oh yeah? You guys are getting your asses beat.” Diamond Bar had kept possession of the ball most of the first half and Alex had already scored twice.

The blonde laughed, running a hand down Tobin’s bicep. It gave her chills.. The uncomfortable kind

Tobin might not be…active in the ‘game’, but she still knew the signs of when someone as flirting and this girl was laying it on strong. At school it was easy to just ignore the girls who approached her, but in this line she had no choice but to stay because her stomach was not letting her leave without some nachos.

“Careful now. We could always make a comeback and then you would be left looking pretty stupid,” she said. “So why exactly are you here?”

“In the concession stand line?” Tobin asked. _What kind of question is that? Can’t a bitch eat?_

“No silly,” Vanessa laughed. “At a soccer game. This doesn’t really look like your scene.”

“Oh right. My girl-” It was happening again. Tobin still didn’t know what to call Alex. “My friend um…a couple of my friends are on the team and I came watch,” she answered. _Man that was difficult_.

“Oh that’s nice of you; to support your friends.” Tobin really wished that this line would move faster. She didn’t feel like talking at all and the game was going to start up again soon.

“Yeah I’m all for that.”

“I didn’t catch your name,” the blonde said.

“That’s cause I didn’t throw it,” Tobin said, adjusting her Lakers snapback. “I should get going. Clearly this line isn’t moving…” The badass made a move to leave, but the blonde grabbed the front of her purple tank.

“So you’re gonna play hard to get?” Vanessa quirked an eyebrow.

“I’m not playing at anything.”

“Are you seeing someone?”

“Yes. And I’d really appreciate it if you’d let me go so I can get back to my friends,” she said coldly. The blonde took her hand off of Tobin, staring at her disbelievingly. _That was probably my face the first time I met Alex._

..

Kelley and Alex met Hope and Tobin at Hope’s jeep once they were done in the locker room. All the bags were put in the back and they were getting ready to get in until a cop car pulled up. The soccer girls immediately started to panic and looked on with wide eyes.

“Tobin Heath and Hope Solo…” The two badasses shared a look and rolled their eyes. “Plus two,” the cop said gesturing to the two girls behind them. “I’ll tell you ladies, you two could do a lot better than settling for these losers.”

“Carl, what do you want?” Tobin asked, balling her fists at her sides.

“Yeah seriously dude, go be a douche bag somewhere else,” Hope added. Kelley gasped, grabbing her girlfriend’s arm.

“Hope you can’t say that to a cop!” she hissed.

“Relax. Carl isn’t anyone to be scared of, trust us on this one,” Tobin said.

“What’s this I hear about you getting in a fight?” The cop asked. The girl laughed.

“It wasn’t much of a fight,” she smirked. Alex wanted to object and say that it was very much a fight because Tobin had gotten hurt.

“I could arrest you for the assault of a minor.”

“Well first of all that shit happened days ago and you have no proof. Second, it was self defense because he attacked _me_. And third, he was under the influence, so really you have more reason to arrest pretty boy than you do me.”

The two soccer players watched with worried and confused expressions as Hope and Tobin went back and forth with the cop.

“I’d watch what you say, Heath. You too, Solo. I have the power to do things that are way above both of your heads,” the ginger threatened. To be honest he wasn’t doing a very good job of being intimidating. He hadn’t gotten out of the car, so clearly his threats were hollow.

“What are you gonna do? Tell my parents that I’ve been a nuisance to the community? Too late for that,” she scoffed. “Go worry about the people that are actually doing crimes. Like child abuse and bank robbing. That’s your job isn’t it, Carl?” Alex froze the the words ‘child abuse’

“How many times do I have to say it? It’s Officer Thomas! You two need to start showing me some respect.”

“You’re holding up the line dude.” Carl looked back and sure enough, there were about three cars behind his cruiser.

“If I were you two, I’d keep away from these troublemakers.” That was the last thing Carl said before he finally drove off.

“I hate that guy,” Hope groaned, getting into the driver’s side. Tobin shook her head, mumbling her agreement and made her way over to the passenger side and got in the front

seat. “Dude what are you doing?”

“Sitting down,” her friend said in a ‘duh’ voice.

“Kelley’s sitting there.” Tobin’s jaw dropped.

“Dude I always get shotgun!”

“That’s cause its always just the two of us! Get in the back with Alex,” Hope said.

“What happened to bro before hoes?” The taller girl glared at her. “I mean…pals before gals?” Hope held her gaze. “I can’t believe this,” Tobin muttered, getting out the front and moving to the back. She plopped down in the seat and folded her arms, pouting. She was glaring at the back of Hope’s head, trying to make the girl uncomfortable, but the second Alex scooted next to her and rested her head on her shoulder, she forgot what she was mad about.

And then she remembered that she still hadn’t eaten.

“Dude pull into Burger King I’m starving.”

..

For the second time, Alex woke up in an unfamiliar bed, in an unfamiliar room, in a unfamiliar house. She could feel Tobin’s body pressed up and against her back and an arm was wrapped around her torso. They were at Katie’s beach house, she figured that much. And either she didn’t remember waking up to go in the house or she just never woke up and Tobin carried her in.

Alex looks at the clock on the nightstand and saw that it was almost 10. She tried to get up but Tobin only tightened her grip around her waist.

“Tobin,” Alex whispered. The badass stirred and buried her face in the crook of her neck. “Tobin,” she said louder.

“Hmm?”

“We need to get up, its already 10.”

“5 more minutes,” she mumbled. Alex tried to get up, but Tobin tightened her grip. “Quit moving.”

“Tobin I have to pee!” Reluctantly, the badass let go. The soccer player hopped out the bed and rushed to the en suite bathroom.

Minutes later she was out, letting out a sigh of relief in the process. Tobin was awake now, staring at her.

“So what do you wanna do today, Superstar?” As she asked Alex, her stomach growled embarrassingly loud growl. The two looked at each other and paused before bursting out laughing.

“How about we go somewhere for brunch?”

“That sounds excellent.”

..

“Guys come play with us!” Kelley yelled to Tobin and Hope. Some guys had come up to them and asked them if they wanted to play a pick up game of soccer and of course, Kelley and Alex said yes.

“No that’s alright, we’ll just watch from here,” Hope called out. She and Tobin didn’t know the first thing about soccer and she figured that she would save them both the embarrassment.

For the first ten minutes of the game, they were just enjoying watching them play. Then Alex scored and some guy went up to her and hugged her. Tobin stopped mid-sentence and glared. It probably wouldn’t have bothered her so much if the guy wasn’t so handsome. He seriously had all the girls swooning over him. Tobin would even consider tapping that if she wasn’t already gay; He was _that_ attractive.

“Dude I can seriously _feel_ the jealously oozing off of you,” Hope commented with a smirk.

“Who does he think he is?” Tobin asked, ignoring the statement. “He can’t do that…why would he- who hugs someone they barely even know? It wasn’t _that_ great of a goal.”

“Well she’s not even your girlfriend, you know. So rushing up to that dude and kicking his ass would not only make you look like an asshole, but it would also make Alex mad at you. And I know you don’t want that.”

“He is all over her,” Tobin said sighing angrily.

“Maybe he’s just friendly?” Secretly Hope was enjoying watching Tobin’s frustration, but she kept on her mask.

“Friendly my ass! People always have ulterior motives, Hope.”

“Kind of like you?” Hope watched as her friend’s face contorted in confusion, then turned into comprehension. Tobin frowned because Hope was right. That was the whole reason she was had made this far with Alex. Because of the bet…

But somewhere along the way, things had changed and Tobin’s priorities were different. Alex had everything to do with that.

She had never met someone so patient and just all around kind (excluding that one time she cussed Tobin out). Every other thought that she had was about Alex. She wanted to do whatever it took to make Alex smile. To make her laugh. To see that twinkle in her eye.

“Forget I said anything,” Hope said.

“No, you’re right,” she frowned.

Moments later the two soccer players made their way back over, Kelley pecking Hope her lips. Tobin instantly cheered up, seeing Alex’s smiling face.

“You guys have fun?”

“Yeah, we did!” Kelley said excitedly.

“You and that dude seemed to have developed a quick relationship,” Hope commented towards Alex. Tobin glared at her through her sunglasses.

“Who Troy? Oh he’s a sweetheart,” Alex answered. Tobin felt her insides boil. _Oh he’s a sweetheart_ she mocked. _Troy_.

“I’m hungry, who’s hungry? Let’s go eat,” she said abruptly standing up. She bounded over to the shacks. Hope watched with a smug grin while Kelley and Alex had confused looks. She knew it wasn’t right to mess with Tobin like that, but it was funny watching her friend getting all flustered over a simple pick up game with some dudes that they probably wouldn’t even see again.

“She is always hungry,” the forward commented.

“Oh yeah her stomach is black hole,” Hope said _,_ rolling her eyes. She knew damn well Tobin wasn’t even in the least bit hungry, but it was whatever.

..

_It’s not that hard Tobin. Just ask her out. Just say “Alex will you go out with me?” It’s not hard._

“God, you’re such a girl,” she groaned to herself. _Well of course you’re a girl,_ she mentally chided. _You’ve got a vagina don’t you?_

Tobin didn’t even know why she was nervous. The first time she had asked Alex out, she just winged it. And yeah it took a million times, but the point is that she didn’t fear rejection and it never stopped her. But if Alex said no now, well it would seriously damage her self esteem.

_Why would she say no? You’ve been practically living together for the past 48 hours, you idiot._

“Will you quit having a conversation with yourself?” Hope asked from beside her.

“What?”

“You’ve been talking to yourself for the past five minutes.” Had she? Tobin hadn’t even noticed. “I’m gonna make this easy for you,” Hope said to Tobin. The shorter girl sat, confused as to what Hope was talking about. She watched as her friend stood up.

“Where are you going?” Tobin asked, following. “Bro, get your ass back here!”

Hope walked out the back door to the porch where Kelley and Alex were.

“Alex, Tobin wants to take you out,” she announced. Tobin came out a second after her. Her mouth dropped as she had heard what was said.

“Not cool dude, I totally had that!”

“Oh yeah right,” the taller girl scoffed. “You would’ve stayed on that couch going at war with yourself if I hadn’t come out here.”

“Well we’ll never know now, cause you just had to ruin it,” Tobin threw her arms up.

“Tobin?”

“Huh?” The girl froze, her arms still above her head.

“When do you want to take me out?” Alex asked amused.

“Tonight,” she sighed, dropping her arms and looking anxiously at the forward.

“Sounds great!” Tobin grinned ear to ear as she felt like a huge weight was being lifted off her shoulders.

“Awesome. 7 okay?” Alex nodded.

“You’re welcome,” Hope smirked.

“Yeah well I never said thank you so-”

“You just did…and you’re welcome.” Tobin glared at a still smirking Hope and stomped back into the house.

“YOU’RE SO IMMATURE!”

“Oh I’m the immature one!” she called out, hopping into the house after her friend. “YOU WEAR FUCKING CARS BOXERS.”

Kelley and Alex giggled to each other at their antics.

“Isn’t cool how we’re best friends and we’re dating people who are also best friends?” the freckled girl asked.

“Yeah it is,” Alex agreed.

“And their the school’s two biggest troublemakers! Who would have thought, you know?”

Alex _had_ thought about it. About how she’d never even pictured herself with a girl. She especially never pictured herself with someone like _Tobin Heath_.

All her life Alex had always gone by the rules and she had always done basically what society told her. She listened to her parents and got good grades.

Society expected people like Alex to go out with a nice young man whose parents came from the same social status as hers. Yet here she was not only dating a _girl_ but also she finding herself enjoying being around Tobin. You would think that by the social order of most high schools that their paths wouldn’t have even crossed. But they did and Alex couldn’t have been happier.

“It’s strange but I like it,” she finally said.

“Oh! We need to have our children at the same time so they can be besties too!”

“Okay slow down, Kel. We’re still in high school remember?” Kelley only shrugged.

“So how has your birthday been so far?” It was Alex’s turn to shrug.

“We’ll see after this date,” she said, getting up. The forward checked her phone and saw that it was already 6:15. “Help me get ready?”

“Sure.”

..

Tobin waited for Alex out on the back porch. She checked her watch for what seemed like the billionth time. It was still 6:58, make that 6:59 now.

 _Take a deep breath, dude. Relax. Remember the first date and how well it went._ She listened to her self and took a few calming breaths. It worked for the most part. Until Alex came out in jean shorts and polo tee.

The look was simple, but it still made Tobin’s jaw drop. She had been doing that a lot lately she noticed.

“You ready?” Alex asked. Tobin quickly closed her mouth and nodded, mentally slapping herself for being so lame.

“Yeah, let’s go,” she said. She contemplated on grabbing the girl’s hand, but Alex made it easy for her by taking the initiative.

“So what’s on the schedule this evening? Or do I even get to know?” Tobin smirked.

“Well first I thought we could have a picnic, maybe watch the sunset. Then after than we could have a little night surfing lesson. That okay?” Alex smiled at her.

“Yeah that’s great.”

Tobin brought them to a more secluded part of the beach that was bordered by some rocks. A blanket was already set up on the sand, with a woven basket on top of it. They sat down on it across from each other.

“You’re in for a real treat, Superstar,” Tobin said as she began to pull out the contents of the basket. “We’ve got specially prepared food made by the world renown chef Tobin Heath.” She pulled out a couple of peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. “Main dish,” she announced. “Sides.” Tobin grabbed a bag of pretzels and and a tub of grapes. “And finally…dessert,” she finished. She sat the tray of chocolate covered strawberries off to the side.

“Wow. I’m impressed,” Alex giggled. Tobin gave her a goofy smile.

“Oh I almost forgot!” She grabbed two bottles of apple juice. “The official drink of BU.”

“BU?”

“Badasses United,” Tobin said in a ‘duh’ voice.

“I don’t think you are badass at all. I mean, at least not anymore. You’ve gone out on _two_ dates now. You don’t skip class..” Alex pointed out. “If it weren’t for that screaming metal death trap of yours, your membership would have be revoked a long time ago.” Tobin smiled as all these things were true.

“I guess you’re right,” she nodded. “And I’m okay with that.”

They say in silence after that. Every once in a while they would feed each other. Tobin almost lost it one time when she was feeding Alex a chocolate strawberry. Watching Alex’s lips just barely graze over her fingertips and her eyes close in delight was probably the hottest thing she had ever witnessed.

But all of that was forgotten, however, when a grape hit her forehead. They went into an all out food fight.

..

Tobin stared at Alex as the sun went down. She had seen a sunset before, but Alex had told her it was her first time so she wanted to see her reaction.

A look of awe passed of the girl’s face. She looked happy and at ease and Tobin was glad that she was the cause of that.

“Beautiful isn’t it?” Yeah it was a clichéd line, but Alex didn’t seem to mind. She looked at Tobin and wasn’t surprised that the girl was staring at her. It was something that Tobin did a lot to Alex, but most of the time she just pretended not to notice. She liked the attention and how the girl looked at her like she was the only person she ever wanted to see.

Alex couldn’t stop herself from leaning over and pressing her lips to Tobin’s.

“You should know that today is my birthday,” she said. “This that this is best birthday present I’ve ever gotten.”

“Really?” The forward nodded. “Can I ask you a question?”

“You just did.” Tobin chuckled. She scooted closer to Alex so their knees were touching and grabbed her hands.

“Will you be my girlfriend?”

“Yes,” she said softly. Tobin didn’t hear her though as she was already coming up with a way to explain herself. She was never really good at expressing her feelings through actual words but she was going to give it her best shot.

“I mean these last couple of weeks have been kind of fun you know? I like being with you…and I like who I am when I’m with you. You make me a better person, Alex.”

The soccer player thought it was adorable how Tobin was rambling.

“And I’ve never really been in a relationship before and I don’t really know how to be, but maybe you can teach me. But I mean we’ve already had our second kiss so we’ve kind of already been in some type of relationship right?” She didn’t give Alex a chance to answer. “Wait…did you say yes?”

“I did,” Alex nodded.

“Really? Are you sure?”

“Are you _trying_ to get me to change my mind?”

“No,” Tobin said quickly. “Not at all. And happy birthday.”

She leaned forward on her knees to kiss Alex again. Tobin would never get enough of her girlfriend’s lips…

Her girlfriend.

 _I like the sound of that_.

“So how about that surfing lesson now?” Alex asked, abruptly getting up and stripping off her clothes to reveal her bikini.

Tobin’s mouthed dropped. It seemed as though every time she had gotten her feet together, Alex was knocking her back down. And didn’t mind one bit.

_If I was a dude, I’d already be pitching a tent right now_


	9. Facing the Friends

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Back from their three day weekend at the beach, the four can't hide from the gang anymore. More importantly, Tobin can't hide from them.

“Guys this can’t be right,” Lauren frowned as they pulled to the address that had received from the school. “There is no way that this is Alex’s house.”

The place looked completely vacant and like no one had lived in it for years. The grass looked terrible, the garden hadn’t been tended to, and most importantly it just didn’t look like a place that Alex even _could_ live in or anyone for that matter.

“Yeah they must have gotten the address wrong,” Sydney agreed.

“Has anyone been able to get in touch with Alex?”

The group murmured that they hadn’t.

“This is like the tenth time I’ve tried to call her this weekend. It’s gone straight to voicemail every time,” Ashlyn said.

“I hope she’s okay,” Ali said in response.

“Has anyone tried Kelley?” Kristie asked.

“She’s gone MIA too,” HAO answered.

“Well when’s the last time anyone saw them?” Lauren was quite frustrated now.

“After the game with Tobin and Hope…”

Everyone turned their attention to Amy who had been quiet until now.

“She’s right. Look at this picture on Instagram.” Ashlyn passed her iPhone around so people could see.

Its clear that Kelley is the one that took the picture because a sliver of her arm looks like its trying to escape the frame. She’s grinning widely, on the back of Hope who’s smirking into the camera. Alex can be seen in the background with the arm of Tobin slung around her shoulder. The forward was doing a duck face while the other girl actually showed a genuine smile.

“They are going to get an earful when they get back!”

..

Kelley and Alex did, in fact, get an earful from Lauren and the rest of the team. Basically the whole speech was about the two running off without telling anyone, leaving everyone worried sick. And then of course Alex got a happy belated birthday.

“Wait what did you say?” Alex asked.

“I said we tried to stop by your house, you know to wish you happy birthday and everything, but we think the address we got from the school was wrong.”

The forward started to panic on the inside. No one was supposed to know where she lived and quite frankly she was upset with the school for giving out personal information like that. But the thing was, not even Kelley knew where she lived. Kelley _thought_ she knew where she lived, but the house she told to her to drop her off at wasn’t even hers.

The house was actually down the street and around the corner from where she actually lived. It looked like a place where Alex was supposed to live. With fresh cut grass, a beautiful garden, and a lovely welcome mat by the front door.

It was the type of house that Alex Morgan was expected to live in.

“Oh,” was all she could say.

“Yeah the house we went to was some abandoned place that couldn’t have been your house. Then we just gave up all together when we saw Kelley’s picture on Instagram,” HAO shrugged.

“Speaking of which…are you and Tobin like girlfriend and girlfriend?” Christen asked.

“Yeah we are.”

Alex could tell that they had mixed opinions about her being in a relationship with Tobin, but they kept their thoughts to themselves. More specifically, it was Lauren who looked conflicted and like she wanted to say something.

“That’s cool,” Christen finally said, offering her a comforting smile.

“Yeah totally,” Heather added. “And anyone can tell that she really likes you, and I know you like her so I mean I guess its about time.” Alex gave them both grateful smiles.

“And she makes you happy?” Lauren asked.

“She really does. And I know you guys are a little apprehensive about her, but she’s really the not person that everyone thinks she is,” Alex said.

“You should ask her to come sit with us today,” Ali suggested, under the arm of Ashlyn who was literally biting her tongue to keep from saying what she wanted (which was the question of Alex’s sexual orientation).

“Really?” She looked at Lauren.

“Yeah, you should ask,” she nodded to the forward, nudging her and offering a genuine smile.

“Thanks guys, that means a lot.”

“Trust me, Alex has Tobin wrapped around her little finger. You’ll see at lunch,” Kelley told them, earning an eye roll from the forward.

..

“So will you do it?” Alex asked, wrapping her arms around Tobin’s neck.

“I don’t know…” before Tobin had a chance to say anything else Alex pressed her lips to hers.. The other girl responded immediately, placing her hands on her hips and pulling them closer.

Tobin got lost in the kiss, just like all the other times she got lost when Alex’s lips were on hers. Actually its only been three times, well now four, but its clear that its becoming a habit. Her kisses make her forget things that she’s supposed to remember. Like her birthday, or how many days there are in a week…or even her own name. And somewhere in the back of her mind, she knows that Alex just played her, but she couldn’t care less at the moment.

“Please?” Alex gave her the puppy dog eyes. The forward knows she’s winning this game and Tobin knows it too. She’s fighting to look away, but she can’t. Her mind still isn’t working right and all she wants to do is kiss Alex again. Those blue pools of hers were so easy to drown in.

“Okay,” she caved. The forward squealed and pecked her lips again.

“You’re the best!”

“I know.”

Tobin let Alex drag her to the cafeteria. She figured one lunch with her girlfriend’s teammates wouldn’t hurt. _What are you worried about? It’s not like they are_ complete _strangers._

When they got to the double doors, she realized how big this actually was. She wasn’t just sitting with Alex’s friends. She was sitting with Alex’s friend’s as her _girlfriend._

“Wait,” Tobin said hastily, pulling Alex back before she could push one of the doors open. “I don’t know if I can do this.” The butterflies were going irate at the moment; The same butterflies that she got when she asked the soccer player to be her girlfriend.

Alex saw the panic in Tobin’s eyes and cupped her face with her left hand.

“Its okay, Tobin. Just be yourself…” The girl nodded, closing her eyes and relishing in the softness of the forward’s hand. “And not the ‘badass’ Tobin that the school knows, but the funny and adorable Tobin that I know.” The girl nodded again.

“Okay,” Tobin said, almost inaudibly. She smiled to let Alex know she was ready. Smiling back, the soccer player removed her hand from her face and brought to down to intertwine their fingers. She led them to her table where her friends were, excluding Kelley who either was leaving campus for lunch with Hope, or was just late.

Tobin pulled out a chair for Alex, then sat down in the one next to hers, sitting abnormally straight. She held on to Alex’s hand for dear life. The moment she sat down, she could feel all eyes on her. Not just from her girlfriend’s friends, but also from everyone in the caf; students, teachers, everyone.

 _Nosy bastards_.

Ali, a pretty brunette with brown eyes, was the first to speak to her. Tobin remembered that she was a defender and the girlfriend of Ashlyn Harris, who coincidentally was glaring at her and daring her to doing anything wrong.

She held her ground and didn’t show any fear, but on the inside she was about to shit her pants.

Ashlyn Harris was on that list of people she didn’t fuck with.

Ali had hit her girlfriend and silently told her to ‘quit it’. Tobin saw the exchange. _Yeah dude, better listen to your girl._

She spoke back when she was spoken to, but for the most part Tobin just watched Alex interact with her friends. She found herself laughing at a joke that was made by Heather or Sydney. She even commented when she felt it was necessary.

They held hands in her lap, her smiling whenever Alex would give hers a little squeeze. It definitely made her feel better about this.

“Oh crap, I need a napkin,” Alex said as she had gotten some strange gooey substance on her fingertips.

“I’ll get it,” Tobin said quickly standing up to go retrieve some.

“Kelley was right, Alex. You’ve got the poor thing whipped,” Sydney said. The rest of their table murmured their agreement.

“She’s totally in love with you,” Ali said, making the forward blush.

“Guys stop…”

“Ali’s right. Have you seen the way she looks at you?”

Alex _had_ seen the way Tobin looked at her. And she also knows that Tobin stares at her a lot when she thinks she’s not looking.

But love?

They’ll cross that bridge when they get there.

“So you guys are okay with us now?”

“Alex you know we’ll support you in anything you do. And you obviously like Tobin and she definitely likes you. Plus she’s a lot different than I’m sure we all thought she would be…”

“That’s true,” Kristie agreed.

“Y’all are adorable together,” Lauren admits.

A giant smile appears on Alex’s face.

..

After lunch Tobin walked Alex to her next class.

“Was that so bad?”

“Nah it was cool…and you’re friends are cool. Do you think they like me now?”

“They love you,” Alex said, leaning up to kiss Tobin on her cheek. The girl smiled widely upon hearing this.

“Sweet.” Tobin pecks the forward on her lips once. “So I get I’ll see you in fifty minutes then…”

“Yeah, see you then.”

Tobin walks off to her class next smirking and feeling very proud of herself. She felt very accomplished and Alex’s kisses always left her in a good mood anyway so…

..

Alex couldn’t shake the nerves coursing through her body as she sat in her class. This was the class where she had a lot of the ‘populars’ and she could feel their eyes on her from the second she walked in.

She was pretty sure that she wasn’t going crazy when she heard whispering too.

Sure she was considered ‘popular’ even though the was still the ‘new kid’. But mostly her and her friends stayed together. The football, volleyball, and basketball players and cheerleaders were always inviting them to parties and whatnot because that just seemed to be the social order, but they wouldn’t consider themselves friends. Maybe allies depending on the situation.

“So you and Tobin Heath are a thing now,” she heard someone say. It could been mistaken for a question, but it was definitely a statement.

Frowning, Alex turned away from her work and saw three people with their eyes on her: Brandon Mathews, quarterback; Courtney Bennet, co-captian of the volleyball team; and Ashley Cox, head cheerleader.

“I’m sorry?”

“Tobin Heath is your girlfriend, is she not?” Courtney asked.

“No, she is,” Alex answered.

“You’re a lesbian?” It was Brandon this time. “That’s hot,” he smirked.

“I’m not a lesbian.”

“You’re a female going out with another female,” Ashley scoffed.

“That doesn’t mean I’m a lesbian,” Alex crossed her arms.

“Look honey, its cool if you’re experimenting and all that jazz. But Tobin Heath is not the chick to do it with. She more of a ‘fuck ‘em and leave ‘em’ type and deep down you know she won’t return the feelings, but you can’t help but get your hopes up anyway. Ask anyone. No one has ever gotten her to sit still…until you that is,” Courtney cut in.

“So how’d you do it?”

“How did I do it? She came on to me-”

“Uh huh, the whole school saw it. But what I mean is, how did you get her to stay?”

“You must be giving it to her pretty damn good if she hasn’t even looked at another girl since that whole ‘encounter’,” Ashley added, throwing up quotation signs with her hands.

“We aren’t even sleeping together,” the forward defended.

“Really? That won’t last long.”

“Excuse me?” Alex asked, offended.

“Tobin Heath is an animal in bed and a sex addict. She will eventually do what all addicts do which is cave in to temptations. How long do you really think she’ll stay around if you aren’t putting out?”

The bell rang, leaving Alex to her thoughts. All of the students were long gone, on their way to their next class, and she still hadn’t even packed up her things.

Tobin had never shown any signs that she wanted sex. But when they first kissed, she gave her the option to pull away if she didn’t want to, so surely the same would happen when they had sex…if they even made it that far _to_ have sex.

“Miss Morgan is there something wrong?” her teacher asked.

“Um…no ma’am.”

Shaking her head to clear her mind, she finally got up and walked out the classroom.

“Hey,” Tobin greeted pecking her cheek. “I was beginning to think you got lost.”

“Yeah I had to talk to my teacher about something…” Alex lied. She felt bad for doing it, but what would be an appropriate way to approach Tobin about this?

Tobin noticed that Alex was thinking pretty hard. She could tell by the way she bit her lip and knotted her eyebrows. It was something she always did when thinking; like when she studied or was working on an assignment in class.

She grabbed her hand anyway and intertwined their fingers. Alex was grateful for that; That Tobin never questioned her when she noticed something was off.

“Shall we head off to the fields so you can kick some balls?” The soccer player giggled.

“Yeah let’s go.”

In the back of Alex’s mind, she knew she should talk about what her classmates said, but now wasn’t the time.

..

“They actually said that?” Christen asked as they were stretching before practice. Alex nodded, bending down to touch her toes.

“Alex don’t listen to them, they’re just jealous. Hell, even I’m jealous!” Amy said.

“What if they’re right though?”

“Listen to me, Baby Horse,” Lauren spoke up. “First off, those three are idiots. Second, Tobin values your relationship too much. I can tell. Believe it or not, you’ve changed her and everyone can see it.”

Her teammates nodded in agreement, reassuring her that she had nothing to worry about.

..

“So why exactly aren’t you at home?” Tobin asked as they did homework (well Alex did homework) on her bed. The forward was laying on her stomach with her books in front of her at the foot of the bed. Tobin sat up against the headboard with her pencil and paper forgotten off to the side.“Not that I don’t want you here or anything…”

“Change in plans,” Alex answered, writing some more answers down. “Do your homework, Tobin.”

“I don’t like homework,” she whined. “Why can’t we just make out?”

“I’m not kissing you til you finish it.” Tobin frowned.

“But-”

“No buts,” Alex declared.

Tobin sighed loudly. Math was definitely not her strong point. Actually school in general wasn’t her strong point, but she had to do it. She really didn’t see why she had to know how to synthetically divide or know how to come up with a quadratic equation. When would she use them in real life anyway?

But she really liked Alex’s kisses…

“Can you help me?”

Four minutes into the lesson Tobin was just about ready to give up. Alex had successfully gotten her through the first ten problems in record time, but she still had 20 problems left. Plus her English homework.

Needless to say it was a long night for her.

..

*5 Days Later*

“What the hell are you wearing?” Kelley asked Alex as soon as she had gotten in the building. She wasn’t with Tobin because she had to meet with the counselor about her grades.

“What do you mean?” Alex asked, acting dumb.

“Why do you have _that_ on? Its like 85 degrees outside.” the defender asked, gesturing to the long-sleeve under armor shirt that the forward had on; The kind with the turtleneck.

“I was cold this morning…”

“Uh huh.” Alex gulped inaudibly, hoping her best friend wouldn’t question her further. She thought she was in the clear…until the rest of her teammates showed up, asking the exact same question.

“Can you even breathe in that thing?” HAO asked, reaching up to pull at the collar. Alex didn’t have enough time to react, as there were about 3 ten pound textbooks in her arms. “Holy shit…” Her teammates swarmed like bees, all of them getting in her personal space.

“Alex Morgan is that a hickey?!” Kelley exclaimed, attracting the attention of everyone in the hallway.

“Could you please say that louder? I don’t think everyone in Diamond Bar heard you!” the forward hissed.

Alex tried with everything she had to conceal the reddish-purple bruise on her neck, but nothing worked or even slightly covered it.

“Tobin did this?” Amy asked, amused.

“Don’t you think y’all are moving kind of fast?” Lauren asked a little concerned, but equally amused.

“I don’t think so. And please lets be real Cheney, we aren’t kids,” Alex said. And she really didn’t think they were moving fast at all. In fact they were going slow for most teenagers their age. “If you really wanna know what happened, we were studying an-”

“Some _studying_ you guys did,” Ashlyn commented, laughing to herself and earning a smack on her arm from Ali.

“For real though! What led to this?” Sydney asked.

“Then we were watching a movie and things…got out of hand,” Alex admitted.

“What movie? Sex And the City?” Kelley joked, making the forward blush even more.

“Shut up.”

“Omg were you guys really watching-”

“No!” the forward huffed. “First off we didn’t have sex. Second, it was Breaking Dawn. That movie really builds…urges, you know?”

“Oh we know,” Ashlyn said smirking, earning yet another smack from Ali, who was blushing now.

The bell rang, signaling that they had five minutes to get to class. Most of them had classes in another building so they had to go.

“We gotta go, but uh nice job Alex. Who would have thought?” _Damn you Syd._

“Yeah us too. Hope you don’t have a heat stroke today,” Ali giggled. _The_ one _person I was_ sure _wouldn’t make fun of me._ Her teammates walked off.

“Hey babe,” Tobin greeted with a smirk. “What did you girls talk about?” she asked innocently. Alex knew immediately that she had seen the whole thing.

“Funny.” The forward walked off in the opposite direction her teammates went. Tobin jogged to catch up, the shit-eating grin never leaving her face. She knew Alex wasn’t really mad at her and even if she was, her pride was going to let her enjoy this moment.


	10. Mothers, Fathers, and Surprises

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tobin has held off talking with her mother long enough. But will lifting one weight off her chest lead her to carry another one?

“Tobin I need to tell you something,” Alex said as they waited for the bell to ring to let them inside the building. The soccer player was sitting on the trunk of her car while Tobin stood between her legs, just holding on to her.

“I don’t know much about relationships, but I’m pretty sure that’s a bad sign,” the girl joked, but seriously hoping that she didn’t have anything to worry about.

“No it’s not bad or anything,” the forward reassured. “It’s that just something happened a couple days ago- well last week actually- and I thought I should tell you.” Tobin pulled back a little, but kept her hands connected to Alex’s hips.

“Well what happened?” she asked. The soccer player hesitated to speak and Tobin noticed. “Babe, you can tell me anything. I want you to know that…I want you to trust me, Alex.”

“Some of my classmates just said that if I didn’t put out soon, you would ditch me,” she said quietly, looking away.

“Who were they?” The girl’s jaw clenched and she balled one of her fists. She looked around the courtyard searching for any possible suspects.

“Please don’t be upset…” When she heard Alex’s voice, Tobin’s facial expression softened.

“Why didn’t you tell me sooner?” she asked. She took her thumb and pointer finger and turned Alex’s head to face her.

“I don’t know. I was being stupid I guess,” Alex admitted, sighing.

“Hey, you’re not stupid,” she said. “But I’ve changed Alex. I’m not that person anymore.”

“And I know that,” the forward said quickly. “Please just forget I said anything.” Tobin’s phone vibrated against the trunk of Alex’s car, bringing their attention to it. Tobin saw who’s name popped up on the screen and she immediately frowned.

“You’re not going to answer that?” her girlfriend asked, confused.

“It’s my mother,” she said coldly. Alex instantly understood, grabbing Tobin’s hand.

“You should answer it,” she suggested. Her girlfriend scoffed at the idea. Cindy was the last person she wanted to talk to. And she already knew what the conversation was going to be about anyway. Her mother was going to ask her if she could come over so they could ‘talk’.

“I really don’t want to talk to her, Lex.”

“You and your mother need to settle your differences,” Alex told her. “Answer the phone.” Tobin began to protest, but she stopped herself when her girlfriend gave her a pointed look.

She picked up her cellular device and pressed ‘answer’

“Cindy.”

“Tobin.”

“Why must you always call me before school starts? Don’t you want your beloved daughter to have an education?”

“You really expect me to believe that you are actually going to school?” her mother scoffed.

“Would I lie to you, Cindy? Now let’s get straight to the point. We both know why you called,” Tobin said. Alex took her hand and ran it up and down her girlfriend’s arm. She had hopped off her trunk and watched Tobin, who was now wandering around in circles, but was still near her car.

She hated seeing Tobin so angry and flustered.

“We need to talk, Tobin; face to face. Come by to the house.”

“We are talking right now. Why would I come over?”

“Just hear what we have to say and quit being difficult. We’ll talk for 30 minutes, maybe not even that long, and then you won’t hear from me again, I promise.”

Tobin thought about it for a moment.

“Fine. 30 minutes,” she conceded.

“Thank you. Saturday?”

“Whatever.” She hung up.

Her girlfriend waited patiently for her to get herself together.

“She wants to meet Saturday so we can talk in person,” Tobin finally. Alex nodded, urging her to continue. “I don’t know if I can do this.”

“Yes you can, Tobin. And if you want, I’ll go with you,” she offered. The other girl stopped pacing and looked at her.

“You’d do that?” she asked.

“Of course,” Alex answered. “I want to help you get through this.” She grabbed Tobin’s hand and smiled at her.

Alex was perfect. That was the only thing that Tobin could think of at the moment. _She’s perfect and I really don’t deserve her._ No was had ever taken the time to get to know her like she has.

“You’re amazing,” Tobin sighed gratefully. She pulled Alex in and kissed her deeply.

..

He was back.

Alex’s dad was back from his business trip and it was possibly the most disappointing thing Alex had ever experience. And she felt bad for feeling this way. For wishing that he could have stayed gone a little bit longer, when in reality she should be grateful to have him. Some people don’t have to privilege of growing up with their parents let alone one of them.

She didn’t really know what to expect when he got back. He never even specified _when_ he would be back. But now that he _was_ back, Alex felt on edge.

She walked into the house and there he was, sitting on the couch going through the channel guide. Alex wasn’t sure if he had heard her come in, or felt her presence, but one thing she learned since all this began was to never put anything above Michael Morgan.

“How was school?” He asked, never turning around. Alex almost started to look around to see who he was talking to.

“It was good. How was the business trip?” she asked back.

“It was business.”

She didn’t know if she should continue the conversation or not.

“Would you like me to cook you something?” Alex had come home a lot later than she normally did, because she didn’t even know when he would get back. She was actually very surprised he was being so calm about this.

“No I’ve already eaten. I think I’m going to head to bed actually. Goodnight Alexandra.”

Alex watched carefully as he got up and went to his bedroom.

“Goodnight dad.”

..

Tobin wasn’t too keen on watching any soccer that didn’t involve Alex, but her girlfriend wanted to stay to watch the boys’ game, and she knew that Alex was a little upset about not scoring, so she didn’t push about leaving. She also didn’t like having Servando and Alex in the same vicinity, but as long as the boy stayed on the field and Alex was by her side, she wasn’t going to fret too much.

Besides, she had all the dudes from St. Vincent Prep to worry about. With Diamond Bar being the away team, she had a lot more male spectators to ward off. Mostly everyone at DBHS knew not to approach her girl especially when Tobin was around, but no one at this school had made the connection that she and Alex were together…even with all the hand holding a brief kisses they shared.

Tobin was just about ready to go off.

“I swear if another dude comes up here to ask you for your number, or a date, or says some _stupid_ pickup line again…” she let the sentence trail. “Do they not see me right next to you?” she asked rhetorically.

“You’re cute when you’re jealous,” Alex commented. Tobin gasped, her jaw dropping.

“I’m not cute, I’m sexy,” she said, her tone dripping with seriousness. When her girlfriend didn’t say anything, Tobin frowned. Alex fought to keep the smile off her face. “I am! Alex say I’m sexy,” she demanded. The forward pursed her lips.

Tobin poked her finger in Alex’s rib cage, making her yelp.

“Say I’m sexy!” Her girlfriend stubbornly shook her head.

Tobin attacked the forward with her fingers until the girl was literally crying from laughing so hard.

“Okay! You’re sexy! Just stop please!” Alex begged. Tobin smiled triumphantly. Some people were staring at them, but she could care less. Just as long as long as she made her point.

Some dude walked up to them (yet again), successfully ruining Tobin’s mood. Her jaw clenched tight and she sat up a little straighter, contemplating on if she should kick his ass now or later.

Tobin knew his type all too well: overly confident, probably rich and has all the girls swooning over him and he knows it. And he was attractive which was another worrying factor for Tobin. _What if she realizes that she doesn’t even like girls and leaves me? Actually I don’t even know what her sexual orientation is, now that I think about it._ _But worse than that, what if she realizes that I’m not good enough for her?_

“You’re name is Alex right?” he asked.

“Yeah.”

“I’m Jacob. It’s a pleasure to meet you,” he said sticking his hand out for her to shake. Tobin looked like she wanted to cut it off with a machete. Alex gave her a warning look before turning her attention to Jacob and shaking his hand. “You were pretty good out there. How long have you been playing?” _Does it matter?_ Tobin thought. _Go somewhere._

She watched his every move, fake smiling when he looked at her and glaring and cursing him in her head when he turned around. Tobin knew that Alex knew he was flirting, but she also knew that Alex was too nice to interrupt him and say that Tobin was her girlfriend.

But seriously though, the guy must have been an idiot because Alex never let go of Tobin’s hand and she was leaning into Tobin’s side as they talked. If that didn’t raise yellow flags for him, the only thing left for her to do was to out right kiss her.

“So Alex, how would you feel about maybe a date sometime?”

Tobin had had it.

She stood up abruptly. Alex tried to pull her back down, but Tobin refused, her anger getting the best of her.

“Look dude, whatever you’re trying to make happen between you and Alex isn’t going to happen. So why don’t you just bounce so we can enjoy the game?”

“Oh yeah and what makes you so sure?” he asked back, folding his arms and smirking like he has some big secret she doesn’t know about. Tobin hated it.

“Because she’s my girlfriend and I’m hers,” she said mimicking his stance.

“Yeah right,” Jacob scoffed. “There’s no way you could pull her,” he said, speaking about Alex as if she wasn’t even there. That’s probably what infuriated Tobin the most.

“Well believe it dude. She’s mine.” Looked at Tobin and then at Alex who was now standing up as well and holding onto her girlfriend’s arm.

“You can’t be serious…” he threw his head back in disbelief.

“It’s true,” Alex smiled. “I’m spoken for.”

Jacob stomped off after that, mumbling something under his breath that neither of them understood. Alex turned to Tobin who was glaring at his retreating figure. She brought her hand up and turned her girlfriend’s face.

“You could have handled that better,” she said.

“Lex, he was asking you out in front of me.”

“And did you see how I _politely_ told him that I was taken?” Alex asked. Tobin pouted. Her girlfriend was right. She was always right. And when it came to Alex, she didn’t really have a problem with being wrong. “Do you want to get out of here?”

“Yes please!” Alex giggled at Tobin’s eagerness. She tucked herself into her girlfriend’s side. It was little moments like Tobin getting jealous for no reason that made her feel special. That made her feel wanted.

“Wait. You brought that screaming metal death trap didn’t you?” Alex asked, stopping both of their movements. Tobin smirked.

“Of course I did,” she said happily, making the other girl groan.

“I thought we agreed that you’d take my car?”

“Oops.” Alex smacked Tobin’s arm. “Come on babe, you know you’ll be safe with me. I promise. And besides, what if I had gotten pulled over in a car that wasn’t mine? I could have been arrested.” _Plus I really like the way you cling onto me._ Alex did see her logic.

“I hate getting on that thing,” her girlfriend mumbled.

Alex had only been on Tobin’s motorcycle one other time; when Tobin had volunteered to take her joyriding. Only twice, but she was quickly falling in hate with the contraption. One reason was because she felt so exposed, and the other reason was because on the way back from their first date, Tobin jerked forward causing her to yelp and then in turn, did a stoppie making her scream.

“You better hang on tight then.”

“You better not doing any more tricks.”

..

The two had been standing by the front door of the Heath residence for five minutes now.

Tobin had yet to build up enough courage to ring the doorbell. She really didn’t want to face her mother or father, but at the same time she did. She wanted to make them feel guilty, but also show them that she didn’t need them anymore. That she was making just fine on her own (with Hope of course). And most importantly, she was going to make sure that they didn’t show her any pity. She didn’t want it.

Alex watched her girlfriend carefully. Tobin would get ready to press the doorbell, then she would retract her hand at the last second. The girl had had a permanent frown on her face since the second the house came into view. Her eyes looked like they were harboring so many emotions. Her stance was rigid. Alex wasn’t even sure if Tobin felt it when she squeezed her hand.

“Tobin?” Her girlfriend snapped out of her trance and looked at her. “You can do this.” She let out one last big sigh and pressed the button, expecting the worst.

It took her mother thirty seconds to answer the door, but once she did, Tobin immediately pulled Alex behind her protectively.

Alex didn’t know what to expect when meeting Tobin’s parents. It just dawned on her at that moment that she actually _was_ meeting Tobin’s parents. Tobin never hid anything when it came to her family, and more specifically, her mother. With the amount of hate that dripped off of her tongue when she spoke, Alex was expecting some sort of demon.

Instead she got a dark brown, almost black, haired woman with brown lifeless eyes, but she’d say they were pretty close.

“Cindy,” Tobin greeted. “I came like you asked.”

“I see that. Who’s this?” The older woman asked, gesturing to her girlfriend. Tobin pulled Alex in closer to her.

“This is Alex, my girlfriend,” she answered.

“Girlfriend…” It wasn’t a question. It was as if Tobin’s mother was waiting on the joke to be over.

“Alex Morgan,” the forward stated. “It’s a pleasure to meet you,” she said politely. Cindy stared Alex down as they shook hands.

“Likewise.”

Tobin didn’t like the way her mother was looking at her girlfriend. Or the fact that she was even touching her girlfriend.

She could tell she analyzing everything single thing about Alex from the way she stood to the sincerity in her facial features. She probably didn’t believe they were together and thought that Alex was some fling.

“You gonna to let us in?” Tobin asked. Cindy gave her a fake smile, but motioned for them to walk inside.

The house for the most part hadn’t changed since Tobin was last in it. It smelled the same too. Her mother liked to cook so it always smelled like some kind of food. Surprisingly enough, the family photos were still up. Even the ones with Tobin in it.

Tobin and Alex sat down on the couch and waited for her mother to join them. When Cindy finally sat down on the love seat, Tobin felt a wave a energy wash over her. She didn’t even give her mother a chance to make her proposal.

“I am going to speak and you are going to listen,” she demanded. Her mother nodded curtly. Tobin inhaled deeply, trying not to expend all the adrenaline that was coursing through her because of all emotions she was feeling.

Alex squeezed her knee.

That gave her all the strength she needed.

“Do you know how hard it was for me to come out?” It was a rhetorical question. “I hated myself for even thinking about it, because I knew I couldn’t be the daughter that you wanted me to be. I knew I wasn’t like Perry and Katie. And that I wasn’t going to marry a man when I grew up.”

Tobin shook her head.

“I had hoped that you and dad could see how much it was killing me to tell you guys. I wanted your support. I wanted you guys to tell me that you loved me no matter what. And that everything would be okay.”

Tobin voice was rising more and more as went on.

“When you kicked me out, all I could think about was because of one little thing, I was no longer good enough for a mother’s love…” she blinked back tears that were trying to form. “I was so lost and angry. Hope was my only support system and sometimes even she couldn’t do enough to help me get through it.” she paused. “I was sixteen! You kicked me out when I was _sixteen_.” Tobin balled her fist up. “I had to grow up pretty fucking fast.”

Alex rubbed Tobin’s back to calm her down.

“I had to sleep outside. I was cold, I was hungry. And on top of that I _still_ went to school. Now that I think about it, I should have gotten a fucking award for that,” she chuckled dryly.

“Then I started doing stupid crimes, hoping it would get your attention. And I was becoming a person that I never wanted to be. You created a monster, do you realize that? Why couldn’t you just accept me?” she asked, not waiting on an answer. “It doesn’t matter.”

Tobin was trying so hard to stay strong in front of Alex.

“When you showed no signs of even _wanting_ to see your own daughter… I just stopped caring. And I started drinking to feel numb and to forget, and sleeping around to fill the void.” That was the one she was most ashamed about. “…skipping school, visiting the police station on a regular basis. I even smoked to calm my nerves,” she continued.

Alex had told her to quit one day, so she did.

“Your husband bought me an apartment- I don’t know if you already knew that or not.” Tobin didn’t look up, so she didn’t see her mother’s shocked face. “Hope is living with me,” she added, just saying whatever came to her mind now.

“I’m happy now though…” Tobin nodded to herself. “…because Alex came into the picture. And she’s perfect in every way possible. I’ve never met someone so caring and kind and patient and smart. Her being so beautiful is just a plus. She has turned my life around. The only reason I’m here talking to you is because of her, so you should thank her.”

Tobin let out one more shaky breath.

“I’m done.”

“I don’t know what to say,” Cindy admitted.

“You can start by saying sorry for all the shit I went through,” Tobin cut in. Alex gave her a stern look. She knew that being hostile wouldn’t help her and her mother’s relationship.

“I am sorry, Tobin. I really am. But can you at least see where I came from? The people at church-”

“I don’t care about what the people at church would have said! Or what they say now! And I really don’t see where you came from. All you care about is image. If God’s loves all His children, why can’t you?”

Tobin knew that she had struck a nerve because her mother broke down in sobs. That used to be the one scene she had hated the most; seeing her mother cry. But now things were different and she didn’t know if she cared.

“I hope one day you can forgive me,” she choked out. Alex was even fighting back tears now. All Tobin could do was look away.

“Maybe one day,” she conceded. “But not today.” Tobin stood up, pulling Alex to her feet as well. Her mother wiped her tears and stood too.

“I appreciate you coming.” Cindy turned to Alex. “Thank you for getting her to come.”

“No problem,” the forward said, offering the woman a smile.

“I’m glad she has you.”

Tobin pursed her lips. She felt like she was about to explode all over again. She just really needed to get out of this house so she could clear her head.

“We have to go,” she said.

“Maybe we could talk again?”

“Maybe.”

..

Alex drove them to Tobin’s place after that. Her girlfriend hadn’t spoken a word since they left. Even when they got out of her car and into the apartment, Tobin was uncharacteristically silent. She could practically see all the thoughts running through her head. Alex didn’t want Tobin to over think the situation too much.

So that’s why, without warning, she pulled her in for a kiss.

Tobin responded immediately as she always did. Her arms snaked around Alex’s waist and she pulled her as close as possible. The soccer player’s hands went from her girlfriend’s face, to her hair tugging a little to bring her closer.

“I’m so proud of you,” she said when they pulled back.

“Thank you for coming with me,” Tobin answered. “I don’t know what I would have done without you. You’re amazing,” she added, dipping down to kiss her again to show her appreciation. “Stay with me?”

“I’m not going anywhere.”

..

Alex lay asleep in Tobin’s arms an hour or so later. Tobin just watched her sleep, running her hands through her hair. When her girlfriend’s phone buzzed, it caught her off guard. Letting her curiosity get the best of her, she picked it up, just to see who it was.

She was shocked to see that it was from her oldest sister, Katie.

**Katie: Hey girl! I just wanted to check up on you. Perry just called and told me what happened back at our parent’s house. It was sweet of you to go with Tobin to support her.**

Tobin stopped reading the message. She wondered how Alex even got her sister’s number, or vise versa. How did she even know Katie? She had only met Perry.

**I spoke with you mother at the hospital the other day. She’s such a lovely woman and we’re praying for her.**

_What would they be praying for? Why is Alex’s mother at the hospital? Is she a doctor?  
_

Alex stirred in her arms.

“Tobin?” she asked quietly, her voice even raspier than it usually was because she was half sleep.

“I’m here,” the girl assured her. “Go back to sleep,” Tobin said kissing Alex’s forehead. The soccer player sighed contently and snuggled deeper into her girlfriend’s chest.

..

Tobin called her sister once she kissed Alex goodbye.

“Hey Tobs, what’s up?” Katie asked.

“How do you know Alex and how’d you get her number?” Tobin asked.

“I met her at the hospital,” her sister said in her cheerful voice. “You really know how to pick em baby sister. She’s such a sweetheart!”

“Yeah I know. She’s my girlfriend,” the girl shrugged.

“Oh so you made it official? Congrats!”

“Thanks Katie, but uh…what happened at the hospital?” Tobin asked. She tried to sound nonchalant. She knew her sister would slip up eventually. She was the most forgetful out of the three.

“Well a classmate of me and Perry had a baby, so that’s why we were there. But I think Alex told me that her mother was a patient or something like that- oh shoot.” _Gotcha_

“Oh shoot what Katie?”

“I really wasn’t supposed to tell you that, Tobin.”

“Well you’ve already started now,” the younger girl pointed out. She heard her sister sigh through the phone.

“Alex’s mom has cancer. She goes there every night to see her. Don’t tell her I told you though. She said she hadn’t told anyone yet.” Tobin didn’t respond. “Tobin?”

“Yeah I won’t tell.” She hung up.

Tobin felt a little betrayed.

Actually that was an understatement. She was a lot betrayed. She wondered why her _sister_ of all people knew about her own girlfriend’s mother having cancer before she did. _That must be what she does everyday after school. That has to be one of the reasons she can’t ever hang out except for the weekends._

“Wow.”

Her girlfriend’s mother had _cancer_ …


	11. A New Revelation

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> And all the pieces finally come together

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Abuse and mention of illegal substances

Tobin woke up Monday morning and immediately knew that something was wrong. In her heart she felt as if something was out of place. She didn’t like it.

Her suspicions were proven correct when she waited out in the courtyard all morning and Alex still hadn’t shown up to school. At first she thought that maybe her girlfriend was just late, but she realized that wasn’t the case when she tried calling her girlfriend multiple times and she didn’t answer. None of her texts were responded to either.

This wasn’t like Alex; to not answer her phone calls or texts. Or to miss school for that matter. A million possibilities were running through her head. She wondered if she was hurt, if something was going on with her mother… That one was still hard for her to wrap her head around. She just needed to know _something._

Tobin asked Alex’s friends if they had seen her or heard from her at least, and they all said that they hadn’t. It was as if Alex had gone off the map completely. Needless to say, she was worried.

She had trouble concentrating that day- not that she was a good student before or anything. At lunch she was just about ready to leave school. What was the point of her showing up if Alex wasn’t there anyway?

“Bro calm down, I’m sure your girl is fine,” Hope tried to assure her, with Kelley underneath her arm.

“I can’t calm down. She’s never not answered any of my calls or texts. And she always lets me know if there’s a change in plans. I need to know if she’s okay,” Tobin huffed. She leaned up against her motorcycle,

“Why don’t you go over her house,” her best friend suggested.

“Can’t. Don’t have her address.”

“How do you not have her address?”

“I just don’t,” Tobin shrugged. “She’s always been the one to come over mine. I’ve only ever dropped her off at _her_ house,” she said, pointing to Kelley.

“I have her address,” Kelley spoke up. She watched as Hope’s girlfriend pulled out a sheet of paper and wrote on it. When she was handed the piece, she smiled gratefully at her. She knew there was a reason she liked Kelley.

“Thanks dude,” she said. Not even seconds later, Tobin was putting on her helmet and sitting down on her bike. She heeled her kick stand back and started the engine.

Ten minutes later she was on Alex’s street.

Tobin parked her bike on the curb of the address that Kelley gave her. She wasn’t shocked in the slightest when she saw the house. It was just what she had expected. Clean cut grass, beautiful garden, a welcome mat by the front door…

She took off her helmet and smoothed her hair out. She looked down at her outfit, deciding that she looked somewhat decent. Tobin had on her usual skinnies, a white polo, and black classic Vans. She ditched the beanie today and put her hair up in a loose ponytail.

When she rang the doorbell, a tall handsome older gentlemen answered the door who she assumed was Alex’s dad. He had gray eyes that were framed by glasses and brown hair with tents of white.

“Hello sir,” she greeted politely. “My name is Tobin, I’m a classmate of Alex’s.” The only reason she introduced herself as a classmate was because she wasn’t sure if Alex’s parents even knew that they were together. She would’ve hated herself if she had outed her girlfriend on accident.

“Alex?” the man asked confused.

“Yes sir, Alex. Do you think I could speak to her?”

“You must be mistaken, young lady. There’s no Alex here.”

“Oh. Well do you know when she’ll be back?”

“No, you’re misunderstanding me. There isn’t an Alex that lives here.” Tobin frowned upon hearing this.

“Oh.” Kelley must have given her the wrong address. “I’m sorry for bothering you, sir,” she apologized. _Damn Kelley_. That man must have thought she was crazy or stupid, or maybe even both.

“Its no problem,” he smiled. She returned it and walked off his porch and back to her bike.

..

Alex pulled her car into school the next day and found Tobin waiting faithfully on a nearby bench in front of her usual parking spot. She wasn’t even fully out her car when her girlfriend made it over to her.

Tobin didn’t even get a chance to speak before Alex grabbed the front of her shirt and crashed her lips to hers. She was momentarily caught off guard, but responded eagerly nonetheless. She backed her girlfriend against her car and pressed her body into hers.

The forward brought one of her hands to the back of Tobin’s neck, deepening the kiss. She dragged her tongue across her bottom lip, begging for entrance which her girlfriend gladly accepted.

Tobin’s heart was pounding uncontrollably in her chest. She couldn’t get enough of Alex. Probably never will. She didn’t know why her girlfriend chose this particular day to be aggressive (or this particular setting), but she didn’t mind one bit. It was exciting and scary all at one time.

Alex’s heart rate was going at just about the same pace as Tobin’s.

Wolf whistles and cat calls could be heard around them, but they were so focused on each other that they didn’t really care.

“Shit Lex, what was that for?” Tobin asked breathlessly.

“Is it a crime to kiss my girlfriend?” Alex asked back, quirking an eyebrow.

“No of course not its just that…” Tobin tried to remember what she was going to say before kissed her. “I had a question- at least I think I did…”

“Okay well shoot.”

“Um…” she looked Alex’s body up and down suddenly becoming very distracted by it. Tobin quickly thanked the Lord for her girlfriend’s love of Nike running shorts, that showed off her legs in the most delicious way. On her upper half was a hoodie. She thought it was strange that she was wearing one now, especially since it was a good 90 degrees outside. Tobin herself was beginning to have beads of sweat pool on her forehead, though that might have just been from the kiss.

Something caught her eye that she didn’t notice the first time she raked her eyes over Alex’s body. Her girlfriend’s right sleeve was hiked up just enough to reveal a purple mark on her skin. The forward looked to where Tobin’s eyes were fixed and quickly yanked the clothing down.

“What happened to your arm?” Tobin asked reaching for the limb Alex was trying to hide from her. She took it in her hand, making sure she was careful. When she saw the hesitant look on her girlfriend’s face she immediately knew it was a ‘what’ but a ‘who’. Her whole demeanor changed. “Who did this?”

“Tobin please…”

“Who did this to you Alex?” she asked again. “And where have you been , I’ve been worried sick about you.” Alex was looking at anything but her. Tobin’s blood began to boil at the very thought of someone putting their hands on the forward. She looked around the courtyard, her eyes landing on Servando who was glaring at her. “Was it Servando?” Alex took too long to answer. “I’m gonna kill that little-” she didn’t finish her sentence. It was like her legs stopped her from talking.

She started her way towards the boy, but her girlfriend grabbed her arm.

“It wasn’t Servando, Tobin!” Alex said, desperately trying to get Tobin’s attention. The girl finally looked at her.

“Okay then who was it?” she asked. Her gaze locked on the forward’s blue eyes. She saw fear. “Alex if someone is hurting you, I need to know who it is so I can protect you.” Tobin cupped Alex’s face with both hands. _It’s me that’s protecting you_ , Alex thought. She really didn’t want to put her burdens on Tobin or anyone else.

The forward felt like shit for worrying Tobin so much. Its not that she didn’t want to tell her, because she did. She really did. Keeping such a big secret like this was really starting to take its toll on her.

“I want you to trust me, Alex.”

“I do, baby you have to understand,” Alex pleaded. She really did trust her. Tobin isn’t the same person she was a year ago, or even weeks ago. “This isn’t something you can protect me from.”

“Let me try,” Tobin begged. Alex grabbed the two hands that were on her face and held them.

“I can’t do that to you, Tobin. Can we drop it? For now? I just need a little time.”

The bell rang. People started to shuffle around them. Tobin sighed.

“For now,” she agreed.

..

Tobin walked around with a permanent frown on her face. To the outside world, you would think she was just mean mugging people, but she was actually deep in thought. She couldn’t bare not knowing what was going on with Alex. It was literally eating her alive.

Hope could tell her friend was completely out of it. When she had tapped Tobin’s shoulder, the girl had looked at her with a confused expression. As if she didn’t know where she was or what was happening at the moment.

“Wanna talk about it?” she asked.

“Huh?”

They weaved through the students who were making their way to 5th period. The tall brunette dragged her outside to the fountain where she practically threw Tobin down.

“Spill dude. You’re kinda killing my vibe.”

“Someone’s hurting Alex,” she blurted out. Hope’s face contorted in confusion.

“What like right now?”

“No, you dumb fuck.”

The taller girl narrowed her eyes, but decided to let the insult slide because she could tell her friend was truly distraught over this.

She thought about it.

“What, you mean like abusing her?” Tobin nodded. “Holy poop.” The girl looked at her like she was crazy. “Kelley doesn’t like it when I curse. I’ve developed a questionable habit of replacing curse words with things that don’t even make sense,” she explained, rolling her eyes.

To say Hope was shocked at the information was an understatement. Probably the biggest one of the century too. She just never really took Alex as the type of person that could be abused. From the first moment she and Tobin had in the hallway, she was sure she wasn’t the type to be afraid to stand up for herself.

She wondered if Kelley knew. Her girlfriend had never mentioned it, but maybe it was a secret between the two, or maybe their group of friends.

 _Not possible_. They would have been _way_ more protective of Alex if that were the case.

“Is it someone from school?” Tobin shrugged. “I don’t know what to say dude…”

“I love her.”

Hope paused, not sure if she had heard her friend right.

“I love her. I really do,” Tobin said more confidently.

Tobin had been wondering for weeks what she has been feeling. It was a given that she liked Alex, but she knew her feelings surpassed the level of just ‘liking’ someone. The more she thought about the more obvious it was to her now. _I love Alex._ Besides, what else could it be?

“Are you going to tell Alex?” Hope asked.

Hope had known Tobin pretty much all her life. Even before she had become a player, she had never in a million years pictured Tobin being in love. It’s that not she didn’t think her friend was capable of love, its just that she didn’t think it would happen. She had always been a free spirit. She guessed that Alex had changed Tobin more than she had originally thought.

“I don’t know.”

“Are you sure?”

“I’ve never been more sure about anything,” Tobin nodded. “And I’m going to find out who is doing this to her.”

Hope has never seen this much fire in Tobin’s eyes. Not since she beat the shit out of Servando anyway. And she knew there was no talking her out of whatever master plan she was conjuring in her head. Tobin pretty much had a one track mind. Plus Hope actually cared for Alex as well. She was a part of Kelley’s life and huge part of Tobin’s.

“I’ll help.”

“You will?” Hope shrugged.

“Yeah bro. Whoever is doing this to your girl is not cool. And you’d do the same if Kelley were in that situation,” she said. She didn’t want to think about if Kelley were in that situation. Hope didn’t know what she would do. “But in the meantime, don’t do anything stupid aight?”

Tobin looked offended.

“Oh don’t give me that look. You and I both know you don’t think when you’re emotionally compromised.”

The shorter of the two shrugged. Hope was probably right.

..

“Who’s gonna ask her?”

“Not me.”

“Why do we even have to ask? Why don’t we just let them be.”

“Because the suspense is killing me and I gotta know _something,_ ”

“Ashlyn you ask.”

“Why me?”

“Because if you ask, she won’t get offended.”

“You guys do realize I can hear you right?” Alex asked from her corner of the locker room. Her teammates, especially Ali, Amy, and Lauren gave her guilty looks.

“Sorry, Alex,” Sydney said. “We were just curious if-”

“Did you break up with Tobin?” Ashlyn blurted out, earning a slap from Ali on her arm.

“Ashlyn,” pretty much everyone in the locker room (besides Alex) hissed.

“What she means is…why does Tobin look so upset? She’s had like a permanent frown on her face all day,” Christen clarified. “And you haven’t been talking much today.”

“No we didn’t break up,” Alex sighed, lacing up her cleats. “We got into a little debate is all,” the forward explained.

“Do I need to kill a bitch?” Sydney asked. The other forward chuckled.

“No Syd. Tobin and I are fine okay?”

Alex really appreciated her friends’ concern, but she was a little disappointed that they assumed Tobin was in the wrong. It was quite the opposite.

“Just checking.”

The forward felt really self-conscious as her teammates continued to stare at her. Amy opened her mouth to ask another question and Alex internally cringed but their captain swooped in just in time to save her.

“Its time to hit the field ladies,” Abby spoke up. Alex smiled gratefully at their captain. The locker room cleared out and the two forwards were the only ones left.

“Thanks Cap.”

“No problem.”

..

Tobin waited for the soccer team’s practice to be over by Alex’s car. Most of her girlfriend’s teammates had already left. She figured Alex would take a little longer than usual to get ready to go home, but she also knew that during the week, she always kept the same schedule. Alex wouldn’t wait a second past 4:45 because she had to get home.

It was 4:41 now. She was starting to get a little worried.

She let out a sigh of relief moments later when Alex appeared from the fieldhouse.

4:42

“Hey.” Tobin stepped aside to let her girlfriend open the trunk of her car. Alex shuffled some things around in the back- shoes, clothes, books- and Tobin just watched her.

“Is there any chance I can get you to open up about this at all?”

“Tobin..” Alex started. Her girlfriend sighed and nodded. The forward smiled apologetically. “I really have to go.”

“I know.”

“I’ll see you tomorrow.”

Tobin pulled Alex in for a kiss and tried to show her how much she cared for her- how much she loved her.

Her girlfriend pulled away, causing her to frown deeply. Tobin looked into Alex’s ocean eyes.

“I can’t be late,” the forward whispered. The other girl nodded sadly. She reluctantly let go of Alex’s hand.

She watched as her girlfriend pulled out of the parking lot. Tobin just wished things could back to a week before, when Alex didn’t have to rush home. Or even further back to when they were chilling at the beach, not worrying about anything.

Without wasting another second, Tobin made a split decision to follow Alex. Just to make sure that she was okay. She was determined to figure out who was doing this to her girl. What if the reason Alex always had to leave so suddenly was not only because of her mother, but also because of whatever reason this person was hurting her for?

She had to find out.

It took her a while, but she eventually spotted Alex’s car. She kept a safe distance from it, not wanting her girlfriend to know she was being followed. Tobin’s motorcycle was easily identifiable.

Questions flew around her head a they pulled into a not-so-nice neighborhood. She was extremely curious as to why they were even over here. Alex had completely passed the neighborhood that had the address of the house that Kelley said she lived in.

When Alex pulled into a garage of a house that didn’t even look livable, Tobin was hit with another curveball. Her girlfriend lived in- for lack of a better word- a shithole. Her apartment complex looked nicer than this whole neighborhood, and its not like she was living in a paradise either.

Tobin pulled her bike in front of a drain, across from Alex’s house. She pulled her helmet off, her mouth hanging open.

She realized that she had never been more wrong about anything in her entire life. She had always just assumed Alex’s home life was perfect like Alex was. Never in a million years had she imagined her girlfriend living in a place like this. A place with an out of control flowerbed, unkempt grass, dirty windows, frail siding and roofing…

The sound of glass breaking shook her from her thoughts. The noise definitely came from Alex’s house. She hopped off her bike and ran to the porch to see if she wasn’t just imagining things.

When she heard it a second time, but louder, she knew she was correct.

“You’re late!” She heard a deep voice slur.

“Dad its only 5 o clock!” Tobin heard Alex’s raspy voice say.

“I don’t care!”

Tobin rushed to the window in the front that gave her just enough space to view inside.

She came over just in time to see her girlfriend trapped a vice grip by a large man that must have been her father. His large hand came back and backhanded her to the ground.

Acting on instinct, Tobin rammed her shoulder into the front door multiple times until the hinges broke and she was inside.

Alex looked at her with wide eyes.

“Tobin?” she asked in disbelief. The forward hissed, the movement of her facial muscles causing her pain.

Michael Morgan hovered about her, oblivious to Tobin and looking like he was going to strike again.

The girl tackled him to the ground. The man grunted, with breath hitting Tobin in her face. She could definitely tell he was drunk and she was pretty sure she smelled weed when she first came in. The older Morgan was so wasted and gone that just by hitting the ground, he was brought into unconsciousness.

“Alex go to your car and go straight to my apartment,” she commanded. Alex looked like she was about to hyperventilate so Tobin went over to her and cupped her face. “Alex I need you to breathe okay?” The forward took deep breaths. “Good. Now go to my apartment. Hope will let you in.”

“But what about you?” Tears were beginning to rush down Alex’s face. Tobin wiped them away.

“I’ll be over there shortly,” she promised. The forward peeked a glance at her dad, who was laying on the ground a few feet from Tobin. “He’s just unconscious. I need you to get out of here before he wakes back up. Go Alex. I’ll be right behind you.”

Alex nodded faintly and rushed to her car. When Tobin was sure she heard the garage go up, and then back down, she rushed around the house to find Alex’s room.

She found it on the second floor at the end of the hall. She found a duffle bag in a corner and immediately began going through Alex’s drawers and closet, stuffing as many clothes in it as she could. When the bag wouldn’t fill up anymore, she rushed back downstairs and to her bike.

..

Alex cried the entire way to Tobin’s apartment. She tried her best to keep the tears in, but her emotions got the best of her. She felt sick.

Tobin was never supposed to know about her dad beating her, but she couldn’t have been more grateful that her girlfriend came in when she did. She had never seen her father so angry and didn’t want to think about what he would have done to her if Tobin hadn’t shown up. The look in his eye was crazed.

She rang the doorbell and waited patiently for Hope to answer. Alex had momentarily willed herself to stop crying, but the felt the tears trying to come back again. The forward hugged herself tightly.

“Alex?” her girlfriend’s best friend asked. Hope took in the bruise on her face, her swollen bottom lip, and the dried blood that trailed her neck. “Holy shit are okay?” The forward closed her eyes tightly. “Of course you’re not okay, that was a dumb question. Come inside.”

Hope grabbed her and led her to the couch. The tall brunette left, then came back a second later with ice in a zip-lock back, wrapped in a face towel. She pressed it to the forward’s face. Alex took it from her and held it there.

“Do you want to talk about it?” The forward was breathing short, choppy breaths. Hope seriously didn’t know what to do.

“I ju-just want Tobin,” Alex stuttered out.

Hope let out a sigh of relief when Tobin burst through the door. The tall brunette hopped up to ask what was going on, but Tobin just walked past her to Alex.

She hugged her tightly and the forward burst into tears again.

Hope decided to go outside to leave them be, knowing that Tobin would eventually let her in on the situation.

Tobin picked her girlfriend up bridal-style and carried her to her room. She gently laid her down, then laid next to her.

Alex cried into her chest for what seemed like forever, but the sobs eventually died down. Her breathing was starting to even out now.

“Talk to me Alex,” Tobin begged. The forward sniffled, but nodded slowly.

She inhaled slowly, then exhaled.

Alex needed to get this off her chest. She was tired of Tobin not knowing something so major about her.

“Pretty much ever since my mom got cancer, my dad has been beating me for anything and everything.”

Tobin fought to stay in bed with Alex and go beat the shit out of her dad. She knew her heart rate had picked up, because Alex turned to look at her. Her ocean eyes were red and puffy, and full of fear.

“How long?”

“Since I moved here.” Tobin cringed.

That was a good four months ago.

“Do you hate me for not telling you?” Tobin frowned sitting up. She stared Alex down.

“I could never hate you Alex.” _I love you_. “I just wish you had told me sooner and I didn’t have to find out like that.”

She leaned down to kiss her deeply. It was probably one of the most- if not _the_ most passionate kiss they had ever shared. Tobin pulled back, resting her forehead against her girlfriend’s. “I’m going to protect you. No one is going to hurt like this ever again,” she promised.

..

“Where are you going?” Alex asked half asleep, trying to sit up. Tobin shushed her and laid her back down. She kissed her forehead.

“Go back to sleep, Lex. I have to go take care some stuff.” The forward nodded and snuggled in the pillow that Tobin had put in place of her body.

..

She checked her watch. It was close to 8 o clock when Tobin had arrived at the hospital. She felt out of place seeing so many people sick or in wheelchairs. It was heartbreaking.

“Can I help you?” a receptionist asked. Tobin gulped and nodded.

“I’m looking for a Pam Morgan…” The woman stared at her. “She’s uh…she’s got cancer if that helps.” The receptionist didn’t even check her computer.

“Room 412.” Tobin nodded in thanks and went the elevator.

She rocked back and forth on her heels, mentally prepping herself.

 _This needs to be done,_ she thought.

Tobin hesitantly knocked on the door. She heard a voice say ‘come in’, so she did.

She was greeted with the warm smile of Pam Morgan.

“Hello there.” The teenager awkwardly waved at the woman with blue eyes only a little paler than Alex’s. “What can I do for you?” The question was pretty ironic considering the woman and been bed ridden for months.

“Hi Mrs. Morgan. My name is Tobin Heath.”

“Ah yes…my daughter has mentioned you many times. And please, call me Pam,” the woman said. She pointed to the seat next to the bed and motioned for her to sit down.

“Alex is actually the reason I came here ma’am. You see,” Tobin took a deep breath. “I love your daughter.”

She waited for the older woman to gasp or yank the IV out of her arm and get up to choke Tobin. All she did was smile and urged her to continue.

“She’s amazing in every way possible and I want you to know that. Alex makes me a better person. And she’s so selfless. I’ve never met anyone so beautiful inside and out. Sometimes I think what my life would be like without her and I just can’t even imagine or process it,” she admitted.

Tobin sighed.

“I didn’t come here to confess my love for your daughter though. I came because I want you to know that she is staying with me.” Pam’s face showed confusion. She was hoping the foreknowledge of her feelings that it would ease Alex's mother about the next thing she had to tell her.  “I don’t know if you know this, but your husband has been beating Alex ever since you all moved here. I just found out today. But I’m going to protect her. I’m gonna take care of her. You have my word ma’am.”

A tear rolled down Pam’s cheek and Tobin panicked.

“Aw jeez, I’m really sorry ma’am. I really didn’t mean to make you cry,” Tobin apologized. _What did you expect you asshole? You just told her that her daughter was being abused by her husband. This was a bad idea._

“Thank you for telling me Tobin. I’m glad Alex has you.” The teenager nodded, trying not to cry herself. Pam Morgan just had that aura about her. She was like the woman Morgan Freeman that just made you emotional.

A nurse came in and said that Tobin had to leave.

“It was nice meeting you Tobin,” Pam said.

“Likewise, ma’am.”

Once Tobin was outside the door she let out a huge sigh. That talk literally drained everything out of her because she was so nervous

But she felt good now. Good about herself.


	12. Secret Truths

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> All judgements about Tobin are thrown out the window

When Alex woke up, Tobin’s brown eyes were staring into her blue ones.

“How long was I asleep?”

“You’ve been out since like 7 last night.”

“Really?” Tobin nodded. The soccer player pressed the home button on her iphone. The screen lit up and she saw that it was almost 9 o clock. “Crap we have school!” Alex was preparing to hop out of bed, but her girlfriend sat up and grabbed her at the last second.

“You’re in no condition to go to school Lex,” Tobin said. The soccer player sat back down, her legs tucked under her.

Tobin reached up and tenderly touched Alex’s face. The right side of her face wasn’t so much swollen, it was just purple. She noticed the slit in her girlfriend’s top lip and carefully ran her thumb across it.

“I’m so sorry this happened to you.”

“It’s not your fault.”

Her hand went for the forward’s. Alex watched as Tobin turned away and squinted her eyes, looking off into the distance, not really focused on one particular object.

There was silence.

Followed by more silence.

“The hospital. That’s where I went last night. I talked to your mom and told her what happened.”

“You what?”

“I let her know that I’m going to take care of you.”

“You had no right Tobin!” The last thing Alex wanted her mother to know was that her dad was beating her. She already had so much on her plate, she didn’t need to worry about Alex. She needed to focus on recovering. More than anything, she wanted to be the one to tell her mother what was going on, not anyone else.

“I just- I thought that…” Tobin didn’t know what to say. She didn’t mean to upset Alex. She was just doing what she thought was right. She believed Pam had the right to know where her daughter was staying.

“I wasn’t ready yet,” Alex sighed.

“I’m sorry. I just wanted her to know you were safe with me,” she admitted.

The soccer player heard the tone of her girlfriend’s voice an knew the apology was sincere. She didn’t have to look to know that. She also knew that in Tobin’s heart, she believed she was doing the right thing.

But still. She needed to think.

Alex got off the bed and walked into the en suite bathroom. Tobin stayed put, waiting to see what she would do. She could hear the shower being turned on. She sighed. She was going to respect her girlfriend’s silent wish to be alone right now.

Deciding that she had nothing else to do, she went into the living room and waited. Tobin found out that turning the TV on at this time of day was useless because only little kid shows were on.

She was so caught up in her thoughts, that she didn’t hear the shower go off or Alex sit down beside her on the couch.

“I know your heart was in the right place.” Tobin nodded. It really was. And she really was sorry. “Just let me know before you make some rash decision okay?”

Tobin thought about it and nodded.

“Only on one condition: No more going MIA alright? I was so worried about you, Lex.” Alex smiled at her girlfriend.

“Deal.”

Tobin was grateful that her girlfriend was so forgiving. If Alex had walked out on her she just might have lost it. She wished that she had the courage to tell Alex that she loved her right then and there, but the thought of rejection was eating away at her brain. She’d rather hold it in forever and just be with Alex, rather than saying it only to find out that she didn’t love her back.

No. She couldn’t handle that.

She would rather be kicked out by her mother a thousand times than to have her love be denied by Alex. She didn’t care if anyone else denied her love, only Alex.

“Now I have a condition of my own now.” Tobin nodded, waiting for Alex to continue. “Those posters in your bedroom have got to go.”

The forward hopped off the couch and went to Tobin’s room. Alex ripped all the posters off and by the time Tobin came into her room, they were all rolled up. The soccer player shoved them into Tobin’s arms.

“Get rid of them.”

“Yeah I don’t want them anymore anyway. Who’s needs posters when I have my very own supermodel right here?” Tobin noticed that her Mariah Carey poster was no longer above her headboard. “You tore down Mariah?!” She shuffled through the posters she had in her hands until she found it.

“She had to go Tobin.”

“But its _Mariah_. And not only that, but it was her Rainbow poster. That’s like my favorite album of hers.”

“Are you admitting that you listen to Mariah Carey?” Tobin blushed.

“From time to time perhaps,” she said slowly.

“Well either way, she had to be removed.”

“But-”

“You don’t have to throw her away, but if I’m going to continue to sleep in here, she’s not going to be on that wall,” Alex said. Tobin pouted. “Unless you would rather me sleep on the couch with Hope?”

“No,” she said quickly.

Tobin tossed the Victoria’s Secret posters in the trash bin by her bed, and then carefully rolled up the Mariah Carey poster, put a rubber band around it, and slid it under her bed.

“You’re unbelievable,” the soccer player chuckled. “The hardcore badass that listens to Mariah Carey. I’ve always gotten a Kendrick Lamar vibe from you.”

“This stays between us.”

..

“Does anyone know what’s going on with Alex? This is the second time this week that’s she has missed school.” Lauren was extremely confused. The forward was gone Monday, she came back Tuesday and was very distant, then she’s not here on Wednesday.

“She turned off her phone again,” Christen said. “I’m really worried about her.” The group murmured their agreement.

“Did anyone else notice that bruise on her arm?” Ali asked.

“I just assumed it was from practice,” Ashlyn shrugged. “She and I had a few collisions, plus she’s had a few rough tackles lately.”

“Yeah, but she never bruises like _that_.”

This was true. Alex was a pretty tough player.

“I’m sure whatever it was, it was just an accident.”

Kelley stayed silent through the discussion. Even _she_ didn’t know what was going on. Alex was her best friend and she hadn’t even talked to her since practice on Tuesday.

“Do you know what’s going on Kell?” The defender was caught off guard.

“Huh?”

“She said do you know what’s going on with Alex.”

The thing Kelley could think of was that the forward was with Tobin. Tobin had been the one that Alex has recently been going to when she has problems, not her. She knows not to get jealous because she has Hope, and Alex has every right to go to her girlfriend about whatever. But with her and Alex being best friends, and Hope and Tobin being best friends, she thought they would be together as a group more often.

“I guess I could ask Hope if Tobin knows anything.”

“Speaking of Tobin, she’s not here today either,” Lauren frowned.

“Do you think they are together?”

“Its possible.”

Kelley was getting ready to dial her girlfriend’s number, but she stopped herself when she spotted her across the cafeteria. She started to open her mouth to call her came, but Ashlyn beat her to it.

“AYE YO SOLO!” The cafeteria got quiet and the only thing that could be heard was the goalkeeper’s voice echoing. Ali smacked her girlfriend’s arm for drawing the attention of everyone on them.

Hope on the other hand was confused. It made sense for Kelley to yell her name across the room, but she had no idea why the school’s goalkeeper feel the need to shout her name across the caf.

“Yeah?” She spoke in a normal tone because well, all eyes were on her and it was dead quiet so there was no need to yell back.

The blonde motioned her over with the sandwich that she had in her hand. Hope went over. Ashlyn motioned her to sit down. There wasn’t a seat next to her girlfriend so she sat at the end next to Christen Press.

“Can I..help you guys?”

“Where’s your buddy?” the goalkeeper asked.

“Tobin’s at the crib,” she answered.

“Have you seen Alex in the last 24 hours?” Now it all made sense to Hope. They wanted to know where their star player was.

“As a matter of fact, I have,” she nodded.

“You have?” Kelley asked, standing up and going over to her girlfriend.

Hope took note of how the attention of everyone at the table was on the two. _Uh oh._ She hastily stood up and pulled Kelley off to the side where there was no one that could hear them.

“Kell, Alex is with Tobin.”

“Yeah but is she okay?”

“I don’t know. I mean she’s okay with Tobin if that’s that you’re asking, but I don’t know how she is…” Tobin had yet to fill her in on the situation from last night.

All she knew was that Alex came over crying and beaten up, then Tobin barged through the door and went to Alex, they went into her room, Tobin came out an hour later, left, then came _back_ an hour later, and she went straight to her room again.

“What’s going on, Hope?” Hope didn’t like that face. The face Kelley made when she wanted answers now. She didn’t have those answers.

“I don’t really know all the details….”

“But?”

“It’s not really my place to tell you what happened.” She couldn’t just tell Kelley that her best friend beaten up without knowing why or how it happened. Plus that would cause chaos among the group because everyone knows how protective they are of Alex.

“Then I’m coming over,” Kelley crossed her arms.

“I honestly don’t think Alex is ready to see anyone but Tobin right now, babe. Can you just trust me on this?”

“This is my best friend we are talking about Hope,” she scoffed. Hope put her hands on her girlfriend’s shoulder to calm her down.

“How about this: when I go home, I’ll see what they are doing and I will call to let you know if its okay to come over. Alright?”

“Fine.”

“I have to go meet with my counselor, but I’ll see you later okay?” Hope smiled weakly at her girlfriend. Kelley only responded by nodding. Hope kissed her on her cheek and left, but not before glancing back once more.

Kelley was now talking to her friends, probably explaining what she had just told her. Hope caught Lauren’s eye. The curly haired girl glared at her, shaking her head.

 _Yeah, its time to go._ Hope thought, leaving the caf.

..

“Let’s go shopping,” Tobin suggested.

“What?” Alex laughed. “You want to go _shopping_?” The forward lifted her head from her girlfriend’s shoulder.

“Well _I_ don’t really care much for shopping, but I want to take you out. We’ve been doing nothing all day and its not that I don’t enjoy it or anything, but I can tell you’re still thinking about…it, and I just want you to relax and forget.”

“I don’t know Tobin…”

“Come on babe. I’ll let you drag me to all your favorite stores at the mall and we can eat in the food court. And we can even take your car.”

“You’re passing up an opportunity to ride that death trap of yours?” Alex asked, a smile on her face.

“Now don’t get me wrong. I love my baby and I definitely love it when you hold onto me for dear life, but if it will make you happy, we can take the less exciting form of transportation,” Tobin shrugged.

“Okay.”

“Yeah?”

Tobin leaned in so their noses were touching each other.

“Yeah,” the forward whispered.

Tobin pressed her lips to Alex’s, lifting her hand up to cup her face, but being carefully not to put pressure and irritate her bruise.

..

“Toby, what about these jeans?” Alex asked, coming out of one of the changing rooms. From her position against the wall, Tobin motioned with her finger for her girlfriend to twirl. She admired how the denim hugged Alex’s curves in the most enticing way.

“You look great,” she said sincerely.

“That’s what you said about the last three pairs! And the dresses and shirts!”

“I can’t help it that my girlfriend is so beautiful and looks amazing in everything.”

They faintly heard a few females, and one male, coo at the compliment.

Tobin walked over to Alex and placed her hands on her hips. She smiled down at her girlfriend.

“I don’t care which one you get Alex. You’re gonna be breathtaking in any of them.”

The way Tobin was looking at her sent chills throughout Alex’s body. Her brown eyes didn’t look at anything else but the forward’s blue ones. The sincerity that shined through them was so overwhelming for her. Alex’s heart was fluttering and she got butterflies in her stomach.

“Who knew you had such a way with words?” she asked, making Tobin smirk.

“What can I say? You bring it out of me.”

Alex leaned up and captured Tobin’s lips. Her girlfriend didn’t hesitate to respond. The kiss was slow and deliberate and once again, full of passion. The forward didn’t know if she had ever experience this much passion with anyone before Tobin. It was amazing.

Tobin pulled back. Alex’s eyes were still closed. She waited patiently for them to open. Once they did she smiled.

“I love seeing your eyes,” she admitted. “I could look into them for days.”

Since Tobin was terrified of telling Alex that she loved her, she was going to tell her everything that she loved about her.

Alex smiled adoringly at her girlfriend.

“But seriously you should definitely get these jeans.”

“Any specific reason why?” the forward asked. Tobin smirked.

“There’s no buttons or flaps to keep me from doing this.” She glided her hands over and slid them into the back pockets. Tobin gave Alex’s ass a little squeeze. The forward gasped.

Alex was more than aware that up until now, Tobin has been holding back in respect for her. She was hoping with the kiss on Tuesday and the aggressiveness coming from her would inspire Tobin to let loose a little. She was ready for them to be a little more intimate and move past innocent kisses in the hallway and against her car. And in light of recent events, her feelings have only increased.

“So are you ready to leave?” Tobin asked innocently.

“We still have one more store to go to.” Alex smiled mischievous.

..

“Alex I can’t go in there,” Tobin said, furiously shaking her head.

“You had posters of the models in your bedroom, but you’re afraid to go in the store?”

“That’s different Lex,” she hissed. “And people will look at me like I’m crazy if I go in there.”

“How so?” the soccer player asked, amused at her discomfort.

“It’s okay if _you_ go in there because people expect you to. You’re beautiful and you’ve got a hot body. If _I_ go in there, people will think I’m some pervert because I’m a lesbian.”

“What does being a lesbian have to do with anything?”

“It doesn’t. But look at how I dress compared to how you dress.” Alex looked from Tobin’s beige cargo shorts, green one size too big Nike shirt, and the Vans to her own bright red skinny jeans, grey Polo and gladiator sandals. “I’m obvious and you’re not. They’ll treat me as if I’m a guy and you and I both know that guys don’t go in this store.”

“Well you are just going to have to suck it up. We’re going in this store.” Tobin protested, but didn’t resist when Alex pulled her inside.

 _Dear Lord, please help me. Man I’m so whipped_.

Tobin kept her head down as Alex browsed through the various lingerie sets. She could feel the eyes of all the employers and a few women who she guessed were in their early twenties. She’s never felt so out of place in her life.

Her girlfriend was looking at  some yoga pants, but what drew her attention away from Alex was an article of clothing. It was a purple two piece set that was lace and had a hot pink bow in the hem of the bottoms. Tobin thought of how Alex would look in it and bit her lip

Alex didn’t feel Tobin’s eyes on her anymore and looked up. She saw that her girlfriend was eyeing a lingerie set. The soccer player went over to it and picked it up.

“I really like this,” Alex said. “What do you think Toby? Should I try it on?” The forward held the set up to her body. Tobin nodded. She followed Alex over to the dressing room as if she didn’t have control of her legs.

Two minutes later she was being yanked into the stall where Alex was.

Her jaw dropped and she stopped breathing.

“You like?” Tobin gulped, nodding slowly.

“Holy shit…” she cursed.

Alex watched Tobin bite her lip and bring her hand up and wipe it down her face. She blinked a few times as if she didn’t know this was real life. The soccer player loved that she had this affect on Tobin.

“So I should get it then?” she asked, stepping closer to her girlfriend.

“Lex, you have not idea of all the things that are going through my head that I want to do to you right now.” This was like the beach all over again when Alex had stripped down to her bikini. Except this time was better. So much better.

Even with the faint bruise on her arm, Tobin thought she looked perfect.

“Maybe you’ll have to show me some other time.”

And just like that Tobin was being pushed out the stall.

She stood for a moment, not really registering what happened. Then it all clicked. She reached for the door handle, but it was locked.

“You’re a fucking tease, you know that?” she asked through the door.

“I have no idea what you are talking about.”

Tobin scoffed. _The hell you don’t_ She thought. _I need to sit down._ She needed to get her heart rate under control.

..

While Tobin and Alex were in line of the Mandarin Express in the food court, Tobin spotted a jewelry store. She got an idea.

“Hey babe, can you order for me? I have to go to the bathroom,” she lied. She pulled out a twenty and handed it to Alex.

“Yeah sure,” her girlfriend replied. “What do you want?”

“Just get me whatever you’re getting.”

..

After making sure Alex couldn’t see her, she went into the jewelry store.

Tobin looked around, not really seeing anything that she liked. Then she spotted it.

Over in one of the display boxes were silver necklaces, each of them having different letters on them.

“Can I help you?” a worker asked.

“Yes actually. Can I see that necklace with the ‘T’?” The man nodded and unlocked the case. He pulled the necked off the holder and handed it to her.

Tobin ran her fingers over the metal.

“Is there any way I can get these diamonds in pink?”

“Sure. We already have on in stock too so you don’t even have to wait. Would you like it engraved on the back side as well?”

“That’d be awesome. I want it to say ‘Lex’.” The man nodded, taking note of all of this on the customization ticket. “In cursive,” she added.

As the man was typing in her information, another worker was putting the already engraved necklace in a small box.

“Your total is 450, ma’am.” Tobin handed him her debit card internally cringing, but overall feeling good about the buy. She was glad that she had asked Uncle Phil if she could work a few extra hours down at the arcade. It was a really good thing she knew how to save money. It took a small fraction of her savings, but Alex was worth it.

She stuffed the box in her pocket and went back to her girlfriend.

..

Hope answered the door to her and Tobin’s -and Alex’s now- apartment.

The entire girls soccer team let themselves in, brushing past her. Kelley was the last on to come in.

“What’s this Kell?”

“They want answers Hope and so I do.” The tall brunette rubbed her temples with her fingers. _Holy poop_ , she thought. _Tobin is gonna kill me._

“Where’s Alex?” Lauren asked.

“She and Tobin aren’t here. I don’t know when they left, but they weren’t here when I got in which was like two hours ago.”

“Then I guess we are waiting until they get back.”

The team made themselves comfortable on Hope’s couch.

“What’s the wi-fi password?” Sydney asked.

Hope looked at her like she was crazy.

_I don’t have a good feeling about this._

..

Tobin gave Alex her key.

“Why don’t you head on up and I’ll get your stuff?” The soccer player nodded, kissing her.

“Thanks for this baby. I really appreciate it,” she smiled. Tobin smiled back.

“Anything for you,” she said, running her thumb across her girlfriend’s cheek. Alex had taken her make-up off in her car so her bruise was no longer hidden.

When Alex opened the door she was met with the eyes of her teammates; every single of them.

“What are you guys doing here?”

“Holy shit Alex, what happened to your face?!” Kelley asked, hopping up from her seat. She rushed over to the forward followed by everyone else.

“Guys calm down,” she tried.

“How did this happen?”

“What did you run into a wall?”

“Who did this?”

“Did Tobin do this to you?” Lauren asked furiously. “If she’s hurting Alex, you need to tell us!” The forward was too shocked at the question to answer right away. “I never trusted her for a second.”

“I’m going to beat her ass,” Sydney said, stomping towards the exit.

“STOP,” Alex commanded. Everyone froze. Even Hope who was coming out of Tobin’s bedroom.  “All of you sit down.”

They slowly backed away from the forward and found a seat.

“I’m so disappointed that you guys think so lowly of Tobin. She would _never_ hurt me. She has proven that many times; to me and to you guys. Tobin beat up Servando when he touched me, and she attacked my dad when he hit me.” Her teammates gasped.

“Your dad?” Kelley asked in barely above a whisper.

“Yeah Kell, my dad. My dad is the one who did this to me. The bruise on my arm and my face is from him, not Tobin. You guys really shouldn’t assume.”

She was going to put an end to this.

“I haven’t really been completely honest with you guys about my family.”

Alex told them everything. She told them about her mother,  how her dad has been abusing her, how she’s staying with Tobin, everything that came to mind


	13. Just Like That

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Servando just has to remind Tobin that he hasn't gone away.

Tobin chose not to make her presence known until she was sure that Alex was done with her speech. She had heard everything from the beginning. From Alex’s friends accusing her of abusing Alex all the way to her girlfriend sticking up for her and telling them about what’s really going on in her family life.

When she stepped into her apartment, all eyes were on her. Her girlfriend’s teammates were looking at her with guilty expressions on their faces. What the old Tobin wanted to do was tell them that they deserved to feel guilty, but the new one couldn’t even blame them. They were just protective of Alex. So was she. She could never blame them for wanting to make sure Alex was okay.

“Um…hey,” she said awkwardly. Tobin shuffled around the many players, put Alex’s shopping bags in her room, then came back into the living. She stood uncomfortably, shifting her weight from side to side.

“How much did you hear?” Alex asked. The soccer player’s eyes were a bit watery, but there were no signs of tears that had escaped and she was still standing with her arms folded from her speech.

“All of it.” it was a statement, but Tobin said it like a question. She rubbed the back of her neck.

Silence washed over the group.

Lauren was the first to stand up and go over to Tobin.

“I’m sorry for having so little faith in you,” she apologized. “I think we all are. Right guys?” The team nodded simultaneously.

“Its cool,” Tobin said. She held her hand out for Lauren to shake, but the midfielder pulled her into a hug instead. Tobin looked at Alex with her arms limp at her sides, as if asking for permission to hug back. When the forward nodded, encouraging her to embrace Lauren, she did. Alex smiled.

Lauren released Tobin.

“Can I ask a question?” Ashlyn asked. Tobin shrugged. “So you two,” the goalkeeper gestured between Tobin and Hope, “like live together?”

“Yeah.”

“How’d you get this apartment? You must have saved up a lot of money.”

“Actually my dad got it for me.”

“That was cool of him,” Heather spoke up.

“I mean it was after I had been living outside and at Hope’s place for year and a half, so I guess.”

“You lived outside? Like on the streets?” Tobin nodded.

“My parents, well more like my mom, kicked me out when I was 16 because I realized I liked girls,” she shrugged. After the talk with her mom, it didn’t bother Tobin so much to talk about it compared to when she told Alex when they first met.

Alex’s teammates were shocked at this. No one knew that Tobin had gotten kicked out of her own home. Especially not anyone at school. Sure rumors were thrown around here and there, but no one knew for sure.

“That’s terrible,” Ali frowned.

Tobin stuffed her hands in her pockets and shrugged again.

“It was a long time ago.”

“And what’s your story?” Sydney asked Hope.

“My dad is in and out of jail. My mom’s an alcoholic.”

They finally understood why Tobin and Hope acted the way they did. No one imagined that they had been through so much at a young age.

And more importantly, they finally found out why Alex was the way she was. Uptight at times, high strung, and always feeling the need to prove herself. They understood why she was always out of practice by a certain time and why she pushed herself so hard.

..

Tobin’s head popped out of her bed room at the same time that Hope’s head shot over the top of the couch. They both inhaled deeply and looked at Alex, their mouths hung open.

“I made breakfast. Are you two hungry?” the forward asked.

Hope stood up immediately, muttering a ‘heck yes’ and grabbing an already made plate. Tobin stood by her door, frozen and in awe. She guessed that she should have expected Alex to do things around the house in thanks for letting her stay at their apartment, but she was still shocked.

Shocked and hopelessly in love.

“Dude Alex, these pancakes are on point!” Hope exclaimed with her mouth full. The forward smiled at her girlfriend’s best friend.

“Thanks Hope.” Alex noticed that Tobin had yet to move from spot. Her girlfriend had a goofy expression and bed hair which made her giggle. “Aren’t you going to come eat Toby?”

“Yeah come eat Toby,” Hope cackled.

“You can’t call me that,” Tobin said, finally coming out of her trance. “Only Alex can call me that.” She went over to her the forward and wrapped her arms around her from behind. “Morning,” she said softly in Alex’s ear. “Did you sleep well?”

“I did,” the soccer player nodded. Tobin tilted Alex’s face to the side so she could check on the bruise on her face. It was still there of course, but it definitely looked better than it did two days ago. A little make-up and it would be as if it was never there, though Tobin would never forget Alex’s face like this. “I’m fine,” Alex assured. Tobin nodded.

“You didn’t have to do this, you know. Cook for us I mean.”

“I wanted to.”

“You’re perfect.”

“Please don’t start this guys, I’m trying to eat here.”

Tobin ignored her best friend, leaning over her girlfriend’s shoulder and pressing her lips onto hers. She kissed the forward gently, moving her lips against hers slowly. It wasn’t the most passionate or the most exciting kiss, but it still got both of their hearts racing.

“Ew.” Tobin threw an arm back, flipping Hope off.

Alex pulled away, much to her girlfriend’s dismay.

“Eat your breakfast, I’m gonna go get dressed,” the soccer player said, smiling at the pout on Tobin’s face.

“I’m not hungry,” she said, trying to capture Alex’s lips again. Right as their lips were about to touch, her stomach growled. Her girlfriend pulled back and raised a perfectly arched eyebrow at her.

“Not hungry huh?” She shook her head no. Her stomach growled even louder. Alex giggled. “Eat Tobin.”

Tobin thought that if she kept kissing Alex, eventually the hunger would go away, but she knew the forward wasn’t going to budge. And the fact that Alex had gotten up earlier meant that they _had_ to go to school and they couldn’t sit around like yesterday. She knew there was no way her girlfriend would miss three days of school in one week, no matter what was going on.

Thirty minutes later all three were dressed and ready to go. Another ten minutes and they were at their school. Hope took her own vehicle, of course, letting the two have their privacy in the confines of Alex’s car.

“Are you sure you want to be here? I mean we could always head back,” Tobin suggested. She didn’t want Alex to be here if she was uncomfortable.

“I’m fine,” the soccer player assured. Tobin still looked at her worried so she cupped her face. “I promise.”

The bell rang, letting them know it was time to start heading to class. Tobin hopped out and opened the driver’s door for Alex. Her girlfriend began to walk off, assuming Tobin would follow, but the girl stopped her.

“Wait,” Tobin said, she shuffled her hand around in her front pockets of her black cargo shorts, trying to find the necklace. She was starting to panic, but then remembered that it wasn’t in her front pocket, but in the side pouches of the shorts. Alex looked on, confused. “I uh…I got you something,” she said, pulled out the long rectangular box. Tobin shoved the box into her girlfriend’s hands nervously.

Alex took it, giving Tobin a small but still confused smile. She opened the box and gasped. The forward took the article of jewelry out the box and held it up, speechless. She didn’t speak for a whole minute. Tobin took her silence and welling up of tears as her not liking it.

“If you don’t like it, I can get you something else,” she rushed out quickly.

“No its just that…Tobin its beautiful.” A giant grin broke out on her Tobin’s face. “’T’ for Tobin?” Her girlfriend shrugged and nodded. She turned the necklace over and ran her finger over the cursive script that read ‘Lex’. “I love it.” The soccer player reached up and kissed Tobin’s lips.

“Awesome.”

“Put it on for me?”

Tobin nodded, taking the necklace back and unclasping it. Alex turned around and lifted her hair away from her neck. Her girlfriend put it on her. The forward turned back around and smiled.

“Wait, how much did this cost?” Alex asked. Tobin knew that if she told Alex how much it cost, she would have her take it back. She knew that her girlfriend didn’t care about material things and would be opposed to being bought anything too expensive. “Seriously Tobin, how much? I can’t take this, if its too expensive.”

“Babe, it didn’t even cost that much,” Tobin lied.

Alex continued to look at her girlfriend skeptically. “If you say so..”

“I do,” she said happily. Tobin grabbed the forward’s hand and intertwined their fingers. “Shall I walk you to class?” The soccer player nodded.

Tobin would never say this out loud, but she was a giddy inside. Alex loved her gift and she loved that. Nothing and no one could bring her down from her high.

..

“Look at them…they make me fucking sick,” Servando grumbled to his friends.

He hated the new it couple with a passion. They weren’t really new, but they still acted like it. It was clear that they were in love, and that was the fact that he hated the most. From what he could tell, they didn’t even have any problems in their relationship which was another thing that bothered him.

Tobin wasn’t good enough for Alex, but the she was too naïve to realize this.

“I don’t have a problem with them,” his friend Tony shrugged. He was relatively new to Diamond Bar, so he didn’t know about the beef between Tobin and Servando. “I’ve heard rumors about Tobin, but she really isn’t that bad. We have 6th period together.”

“What so you two are besties now?” Servando asked coldly.

“Nah dude, I just don’t have a problem with her. Why don’t you like her again?”

“Maybe its because she whooped his ass,” Cole, a teammate, snickered. Servando glared at the boy.

“No way, really?” Tony asked, shocked. Hunter, another teammate of theirs nodded, deciding to put his two cents in as well.

“Serv is just mad because he likes Alex and Tobin beat him to her. Jealousy is all that is.” Servando, having enough of his teammates making fun of him, left to go think to himself.

Tobin Heath would undoubtedly break Alex’s heart. That’s what she did. She broke hearts. She would get what she wanted, and then pretend as if nothing happened.

When she did break Alex’s heart, he would be right there and let her cry on his shoulder. That’s how he would get Alex to be his. Sooner or later, Tobin would screw up. All he had to do was wait for it to happen. _Shouldn’t take long_ , he thought.

..

Tobin roamed around the halls aimlessly during her free period, thinking. Mostly, Alex consumed her thoughts. She couldn’t believe how lucky she was. Though her courage to tell Alex she loved her had managed to escape her again this morning, she was content with the smile that she had brought to her girlfriend’s face. Oh and the tears of joy. It was a beautiful sight.

“You can’t buy Alex’s love, you know.” Tobin immediately recognized the voice as Servando’s. She turned around and glared at the boy, his mere presence dampening her mood. “Soon enough she’ll realize you aren’t good enough for her.”

“I’m not trying to buy Alex’s love. And I already know I’m not good enough for her. I think about it everyday. Alex is perfect and I’m far from it.” It was the truth. Tobin was so messed up. Alex had a future and she didn’t. She didn’t know what she wanted to be, but could only hope that her future had Alex in it. She didn’t have any special talents or interests for that matter. No college would offer her a scholarship like they would anyone else.

“Maybe you should just give up then,” a smirking Servando suggested.

“You’re crazy if you think I’ll let her go so easily.”

“Well I think you’re crazy if you think she’ll ever love you.” Tobin fought the urge to punch him in his face repeatedly…again. His words hit her harder than she would ever admit.

“You don’t know anything about our relationship and you sure as hell don’t know Alex as well as you think you do,” she spat. “Why don’t you mind your own fucking business, alright? And let me remind that I’ve kicked your ass once before.” Tobin wanted to wipe the little smirk off his stupid face. That was probably his plan, to get in her head. And it was working too because she could feel her blood boiling.

“Are you getting angry?”

“Why don’t I show you just how angry I am?”

“I didn’t come over here to fight you, Heath.”

“Then why the fuck did you come over here, Carrasco?” The boy shrugged.

She started to walk away from the boy, deciding that their conversation was over.

“What if she grows tired of you and doesn’t want you anymore?” Tobin stopped, her jaw tightening. She turned to face him one last time. Servando was smirking, thinking that he said would really send her over the edge. What he didn’t expect was for her to be so calm.

“If Alex asks me to get out of her life, then I will. I want her to be happy, and more than anything I want to be the cause of that happiness…but if I’m not, then I’ll go.”

“Just like that, you’ll leave?”

Tobin inhaled deeply, and exhaled again. The bell rang and she could hear students shuffling in their classrooms, preparing to leave.

“Just like that,” she said with finality. Doors flew open around her and students bolted out of the rooms. “You know if you _actually_ cared for Alex half as much as you think you do, you’d do the same as I would. Cause as of right now, I truly believe that she’s happy with me and until she says otherwise, I’m not giving her up.”

..

“Have you two had sex yet?”

“Excuse me?” Alex scoffed at Brandon.

“Come on Alex, the whole school wants to know. Have you and Tobin done the nasty?” he asked, wagging his eyebrows.

“Of course they have,” Ashley stated. “Tobin Heath doesn’t go months, let alone weeks without sex.”

“Yes, but I need confirmation,” the quarterback said.

“That’s none of your business.”

“Oh they so have,” Courtney laughed.

Alex wondered why kids her age were so ignorant. Her face turned red with anger. She seriously couldn’t understand why they found so much enjoyment in things that didn’t have anything to do with them.

“Look she’s blushing.” _It’s called anger you assholes._

“Judging by how expensive that necklace looks, you must be pretty good in bed too if she got you that,” Ashley said.

The forward chose to ignore the idiots she called her classmates.

“I would love to find out,” Brandon smirked. “You know, only a man truly knows how to please a woman. Maybe we should hook up some time so I can show you.”

Okay she couldn’t ignore that one.

“Listen here you incompetent, ignorant dumbasses. My personal life is none of your business, so why don’t you go mind your own. I seriously feel sorry for you guys. Its sad that you three along with most of the school’s population are so invested in other people’s lives that you don’t even see how pathetic yours are. Its a shame that drama consumes you all,” Alex shook her head.

The three sat in their seats, shocked that Alex would blatantly insult them like that.

“Oh and Brandon? I wouldn’t have sex with you even if you were the last being on Earth.”

Allie Long burst out laughing. The forward tried to keep a straight face and stay mad, but she couldn’t and ended up giggling with her blonde friend. The looks on Brandon, Courtney, and Ashley’s faces were pretty funny, she had to admit.

..

“Holy shit!” Kelley exclaimed. Alex as well as the rest of the team, looked around the locker room with panicked expressions. The forward was in the middle of putting her t-shirt on and froze.

“What Kell?!”

“Yeah what’s going on?!”

Kelley sprinted across the locker room and stopped in front of Alex. She reached for the necklace that was dangling around Alex’s neck.

“Tobin got you this?” Alex let out the breath she was holding and rolled her eyes at her hyperactive best friend. The team swarmed around her and got in her personal space. They seemed to do this almost every time Tobin’s name was brought up.

“Yeah, she gave it to me this morning.”

“This thing looks expensive,” Lauren said. “How much did it cost?”

“She won’t even tell me. I have a feeling it was a lot more than she was letting on,” Alex answered. Kelley turned the necklace over to see the back.

“Is ‘Lex’ what she calls you?” The forward nodded.

“She must really love you,” Christen commented. The team murmured their agreements.

“Guys…”

 _Here we go again,_ she thought. They’ve brought Tobin loving her before, but she always waved off it off. She wasn’t sure if Tobin loved her.. Her girlfriend was constantly telling her things that she loved _about_ her, but she had never actually said the words ‘I love you’. There were times when she thought she was going to say it, but Tobin always ended up changing the subject.

 _Maybe she’s afraid to say it…if she does love me that is._ If that were the case, then maybe she should say it first. Alex knew that Tobin had never loved anyone before and that could be what was holding her back.

“This isn’t a ‘I really like you necklace’ Alex. This is a ‘I am unconditionally and irrevocably in love with you’ necklace,” HAO pointed. Everyone looked at her like she had grown a third head.

“Well put, Heather,” Kelley praised.

“Thanks,” the midfielder smiled.

“Do you love her?” Alex wasn’t really comfortable with all their eyes on her. They were looking as if they were trying to read her mind.

But did she love Tobin?

“Yes. She’s done so much for me and I know she cares for me; I can see it in her eyes. Tobin isn’t the person she used to be, she’s changed so much. And honestly…I can’t imagine my life without her now.”

“Good for you Baby Horse.”

..

“You’re making me look bad,” Hope said to Tobin as they watched their girlfriends practice.

“What’re you talking about dude?” the shorter of the two asked.

“With you buying Alex that necklace, I feel like I’m behind in the game.”

“I didn’t realize it was a competition.”

“Dude, think of the reason we agreed not to double date anymore.” Tobin remembered the reason the four of them agreed not to double date. One day, the two couples went out to dinner and a movie together. First Alex leaned over and kissed Tobin on her cheek, then Kelley did the same. Then Hope started making out with Kelley, so Tobin and Alex did the same. It became increasingly obviously that the couples- more like Tobin and Hope- were trying to out-do each other.

“Kelley isn’t gonna dump you because you didn’t buy her a $450 necklace.”

“That necklace was 450?!”

“Yeah bro,” Tobin shrugged. “But if you were there and you saw Alex’s face, you would see that it was totally worth it.” Hope nodded, knowing exactly what her friend was talking about. She lived to see Kelley’s smile, so she imagined Tobin was the same with Alex.

“When are you gonna tell her you love her?”

“I want the moment to be perfect. And I just wanna make sure she loves me back,” Tobin sighed.

“Are you stupid or something?” Hope asked. Tobin looked at her offended. “Of course she loves you, you idiot. Just tell her.”

“You make it sound so simple. Have you told Kelley?”

“…no.”

“Okay then. Don’t judge.” Hope held her hands up in surrender.

..

Alex climbed on top of Tobin and straddled her, never breaking the kiss. Tobin, unable to control herself, put her hands on her girlfriend’s ass. She squeezed, eliciting a moan from her. Hearing the forward moan was probably the sexiest thing she’s ever experienced.

When Alex broke the kiss, Tobin attacked her neck. She nipped and sucked, and ran her tongue over the smooth skin. The taste of her girlfriend’s skin, plus the subtle grinding that the forward was doing was almost enough to send her over the edge.

“Shit Lex,” she cursed against the crook of her neck. Alex had responded by tugging on her hair, which was a major turn on for her.

In an instant, Tobin flipped them so Alex’s back was on the couch and she was hovering over her. Her girlfriend’s cheeks were flushed and she couldn’t help but stare at her chest as it was rising and falling rapidly. The forward’s legs were wrapped around her waist and it made her painfully aware of the fact that there was absolutely no room for even a thin sheet of paper to slide between them.

Tobin noticed that Alex’s eyes were a shade darker and her face was completely flushed. She captured Alex’s lips once more, not even hearing the sound of a key making its way into the lock of the door of her apartment.

She felt Alex’s hand slide down her front and clasp on to the hem of her shirt. The forward sat up abruptly and practically tore the fabric off of her. Tobin tried to get her heart rate under control during the little break, but her girlfriend’s hand moved to her abs and rested there. It was lower than Alex had probably realized, but she wouldn’t dare make her aware of it.

Alex gasped as Tobin nipped her ear.

“You’re driving me crazy,” Tobin breathed out. The forward accidentally bucked her hips upward, causing Tobin to hiss.

The door swung open and Hope stood there, half in shock and half pissed.

“Dude I sleep there! You have a room literally ten feet away!”

Alex untangled herself from Tobin, blushing furiously at the fact that they had been caught. She hopped off the couch and dashed into Tobin’s room.

Tobin stood up and yanked her shirt back on. She glared at Hope. If looks could kill…

“Really?”

“Don’t you ‘really’ me. I live here too you know!”

 _Damn, she’s right._ Tobin trudged slowly back to her room.

“Going to take a cold shower?” Hope smirked. Tobin flipped her off and slammed her door behind her.


	14. Those Three Words

“I’m sorry about that,” Tobin apologized, rubbing the back of her neck. She sat down next to Alex, who was sitting on her bed with her legs tucked underneath her. “…about Hope walking in on us and for the uh…” Tobin didn’t know how to word her sentence. “I didn’t mean for it to get that far.”

“It’s fine. If I didn’t want it to get that far, we would’ve stopped way before Hope came in,” Alex smiled reassuringly.

“Lex?” she asked.

“Yeah?”

“You would tell me if it was too much right? I mean like…do you feel like I’m pressuring you or anything?”

“Tobin of course I don’t feel like you are pressuring me. And with anyone else I would tell them to slow down, but with you it feels natural you know? We’ve only been together officially for almost two weeks, but I feel like we’ve been together forever.”

Tobin sighed relieved that Alex one) didn’t feel like she was being pressured and two) completely understood her.

“I feel the same way,” she breathed out. The forward smiled and crawled into her girlfriend’s lap.

A comfortable silence passed between them as they listened to all the outside noises. They could faintly hear the TV in the living room over the rain that was hitting the rooftop.

“I want to meet your mom,” Tobin said after a while. “Like officially.” The forward lifted her head up.

“You do?” Who knew her girlfriend could be so old-fashioned?

“Yeah. Just say when and we’ll go up the the hospital. We’ll spend all day with her if you want,” she offered.

“Thank you,” Alex whispered. “I would love for you two to spend time together.”

..

“Tobin we have to get to class,” Alex said breathlessly.

“Fourth period isn’t going anywhere Lex,” Tobin pointed out, trying to kiss her girlfriend again before she could protest. The two were pretty much the only ones left in hallways, except for the occasional student that was speed walking so they wouldn’t be late.

Tobin could tell that Alex’s resolve was starting wane when her breath hitched because had nibbled on her ear.

“If we left right now, no one would notice…” She moved her lips down to the forward’s neck and nibbled there as well. Their lips touched once more, and Tobin couldn’t stop herself from slipping her tongue in Alex’s mouth. She smirked when her girlfriend didn’t resist.

It was another 30 seconds, which wasn’t long enough for Tobin, before Alex finally pulled away for good.

“Baby I’ve missed enough class as it is. I can’t miss any more.” Tobin groaned, but released Alex from her trap anyway. The forward fixed her skirt and tugged it down so it was fingertip length again, and adjusted her shirt that got a little skewed during their make-out session.

The bell rang the second they walked through the door. Tobin went to her seat that was somewhat in the back and Alex went to hers that was up front, which was once again next to Kelley. The seating chart had been rearranged just to mix things up a bit.

“As much as y’all were sucking face in the halls, I didn’t think you two would make it out alive, let alone make it to class,” Kelley commented when Alex sat down beside her.

“That’s funny Kell.”

“You might want to fix your ponytail.” The forward gave Kelley a look, but did as her best friend suggested.

The teacher had started the lesson almost 15 minutes ago, but Tobin wasn’t paying attention from the very beginning. Her mind was on Alex and how beautiful she was, how caring she is towards everyone and everything, and how she probably purposely wore a short skirt today, just to play with Tobin’s emotions.

Alex could tell when Tobin’s eyes were on her because she got chills all over her body. It should have been something she was used to, because Tobin constantly stared at her, even before when they weren’t even in a relationship, but more recently it started to have a greater effect on her than before.

“So beautiful…” The forward, along with the rest of the class, whipped their heads around to look at Tobin, who had a goofy half-grin and a dazed look on her face. When she noticed that everyone was staring at her, her eyes widened and she blushed deeply. She hadn’t realized she had spoken out loud.

“Miss Heath.”

“Huh?”

“Instead of daydreaming about your girlfriend, could you possibly focus to the rest of the lesson with rest of us?”

The entire class laughed, which made her blush even more. Even Alex let out a few giggles. She found it cute that Tobin was all flustered and worked up because she had been called out.

“Can’t I just sit here and fantasize about Alex while the rest of you do work?” she asked without thinking.

“No, but you could fantasize about Alex in the principal’s office,” Mrs. Rodriguez suggested.

“No thank you.”

Tobin’s and Alex’s eyes connected. The forward sent her a small smile and in return, received a blinding smile.

..

Alex blushed when she saw that Hope was smirking at her with her eyebrows raised. Her mind went back to last night when the tall brunette walked in on her and Tobin. It wouldn’t been different if she and Tobin were just innocently kissing, but they weren’t. Tobin’s shirt was off and her hands had wandered to inappropriate places.

Kelley looked from her girlfriend to her best friend, confused. She didn’t know why Hope had that look on her face and was making Alex blush, but she figured it had something to do with something that happened at Tobin’s apartment. That could be the only explanation.

Tobin noticed the look on Hope’s face and glared at her.

“I’m surprised you have your shirt on today Tobin,” Hope said, trying to keep a straight face.

“And why wouldn’t I have a shirt on, Hope?”

“Yeah. Why wouldn’t she have a shirt on?” Kelley asked. Her girlfriend shrugged.

“They could probably tell you better than I could.”

The entire soccer table was focused on what Hope was saying while simultaneously looking at Tobin and Alex.

“What is that supposed to mean?” Sydney asked, extremely intrigued.

“Yes Hope. What _is_ that supposed mean?” Kelley gave her girlfriend a warning look. Tobin squinted her eyes at her best friend, slowly shaking her head, daring her to continue. Of course Hope wasn’t afraid of her, so she just winked and continued.

“All I’m saying is that they don’t see nothing wrong with a little bump and grind,” she shrugged. A look of realization passed among the soccer players’ faces as they pieced together the hints that Hope had dropped. Alex put her face in her hands to cover her blush as her friends burst out laughing.

“Not cool bro,” Tobin spat.

..

Alex was caught off guard by some jocks coming up to her and leaning against the lockers adjacent to hers.

“You’re coming to my party tonight right?” The forward frowned. She hadn’t planned on going to any party. She and Tobin had planned to go visit her mother, then stay in for the rest of the night. But she had remember that a few weeks ago that she had promised the same dude that she would go to one of his parties and she never went.

“I don’t know…”

“Come on, Alex. Everyone is going to be there,” a brunette guy said.

“It’s supposed to be the party of the year,” a blonde dude agreed.

Out of the corner of her eye, she could see Tobin getting ready to meet her.

“I’ll think about it.”

“Great, so we’ll see you there!”

Tobin waited til the dudes were gone to greet Alex.

“Hey babe, what was that about?”

“What do you think about going to a party tonight after we go see my mom?”

“It depends on if Servando will be there.” Tobin already didn’t want Alex near Servando, so she especially didn’t want her around him if he was going to get drunk again.

“I don’t know if he’ll be there, but regardless, I think it’ll be fun.” The forward wrapped her arms around Tobin’s neck and pulled her closer. She gave her a face that she knew her girlfriend couldn’t resist: the puppy dog face.

Tobin bit her lip as Alex’s big blue eyes stared up at her.

“Please?”

“Lex…”

The forward gently pressed her lips to Tobin’s jaw and peppered her with kisses and until she reached the corner of her girlfriend’s mouth.

“I know what you’re doing. Every time you want me to do something, you kiss me.”

“Not always, but is it working?” Alex asked.

“Yes.”

..

Tobin was fine with going with Alex to visit her mother in the hospital. She could handle that. Pam was such a sweet woman with a good heart, which is obviously where Alex got her kindness from, and Tobin loved her dearly. She already felt like Pam was more her mom than her own mother.

Then Alex’s sisters, Jennifer and Jeri, came in unexpectedly and she was a nervous wreck. Her leg wouldn’t stop bouncing up and down, and she held onto Alex’s hand for dear life. She was trying to distract herself with anything in the room, but soon enough Alex was the one that became the distraction when she put her hand on Tobin’s thigh to get it to stop moving so much.

She eventually calmed down, but it took a lot of effort. Tobin now realized that all the Morgan women look a lot alike. Though Alex was the only one with brown hair, they all had some shade of blue eyes, and the same noses.

Jen and Jeri had found out about Alex through Pam, who had called them, which was the reason for their sudden appearance. The last time the both of them had spoken to their little sister was before the move. Both were out of college and didn’t mean to neglect Alex, life just got in the way.

“You should have called, Alex,” Jeri said.

“For real though…” Jen agreed. “From now on, you tell us everything. And we’ll definitely be in touch more.”

“Absolutely.”

Alex smiled gratefully at her sisters, but there was no need for them to be worried anymore. She was good now. Great even. She was with Tobin, plus she had the support of her friends.

“I’m with you on the ‘stay in touch’ thing, but I promise I’m good now. I’m happy,” the youngest Morgan assured. Tobin smiled to herself upon hearing this.

“That’s good baby sis,” Jeri said, noticing how Alex’s eyes darted to Tobin for a split second. “How did she ask you to be her girlfriend?”

“Actually it was Alex that asked. During lunch one day she got up on the tables and demanded everyone’s attention. Then she just popped the question. ‘Tobin Heath, will you be my girlfriend?’” Tobin earned a smack on her arm from Alex, but she still smirked nonetheless. Jen and Jeri laughed.

“She’s joking. Tobin and her friend Hope took Kelley and I to the beach over the long week. On Sunday she took me out on a picnic date. Tobin was rambling and everything; it was adorable.” Tobin blushed deeply. “She didn’t even hear me the first time I said yes.”

Tobin mumbled something about how she wasn’t adorable and the forward was making her sound like a puppy. Alex giggled and kissed her on her cheek, saying that being compared to a puppy wasn’t all that bad because all girls love small animals.

“As long as those girls don’t try to make a move a me. I’m taken.”

“Oh yeah?”

“Yeah there’s this girl that I met. She’s got these amazing blue eyes and a sweet smile and she plays soccer and she’s super smart. She’s the whole package.”

Pam, Jen, and Jeri smiled at the couple who had completely forgotten that they weren’t alone.

“I think our sister is in love,” Jen whispered to Jeri. The middle Morgan nodded.

“They are so cute!” she said back excitedly.

Pam completely agreed with her two oldest daughters. She had never seen Alex this happy and she definitely knew the signs of being in love and her daughter was showing all of them. Tobin had told her that she loved Alex, but now seeing them together, she knew the girl wasn’t lying.

“Don’t you two have somewhere to be?” the woman asked.

“Oh yes! Toby and I have a party to go to,” Alex said standing up. She went over to her mother and hugged her, then to her sisters. Tobin followed suit, kissing Pam on her cheek. She then stood awkwardly in front of her girlfriend’s sisters.

“It was nice meeting you two.”

“You hurt our sister, we’ll hunt you down. Do we understand each other?” Tobin gulped, nodding furiously.

Alex came up and grabbed her girlfriend’s hand, glaring her sisters.

“Weee should get going,” she said, pulling her towards the door.

“Bye ladies,” Tobin said, avoiding eye contact with Jennifer and Jeri.

“You two have fun.”

..

Tobin and Alex could hear the music from all the way down the street. By the time that they had actually arrived that could see that this party was intense. People were on the lawn passed out, and they were pretty sure they could hear the sounds of water splashing around the pool. It was hard to tell with all the noise.

“You made it Alex!” Tobin didn’t like the way this dude was looking at her and Alex. It was as if he knew something that they didn’t.

“Yeah we though it would be fun,” Alex stated. The dude let them into the house and explained to them all he had to offer.

“I think we know how a party works dude.” He held his hands up in surrender.

“Enjoy.”

The two wandered around the house for a bit, but soon found Hope and Kelley a poker table. It was obviously strip poker because Hope had on nothing but a sports bra and boxers. The defender sat in her lap, with her arms draped around Hope’s neck.

People were divided pretty evenly. There were the people that wanted Sam, a guard for the basketball team and who was only in his boxers, to win. Then there were people that wanted Hope to win. Alex spotted Ali and Ashlyn standing behind Hope and Kelley, with beers in each of their hands.

“You might as well give up now, Solo,” Sam said, looking through his cards. “I’ve basically already won.”

“You’ve got less clothes on than I do. Remember that. And I wouldn’t be too sure about winning just yet.”

“How about we make a little deal? Instead of you stripping down in front of all these people, how about you, Kelley, and I go upstairs and have a little threesome? There won’t be an audience I promise,” he smirked.

“Or Kelley and I could just go upstairs by ourselves and have sex. And there still wouldn’t be an audience. I think I like that one better,” Hope said.

“Don’t say I didn’t warn you…”

“I just hope you’ve got the size to back up all this big game you’ve been talking.”

John put his cards down.

“Full house baby!” Three kings and two queens. Hope laughed.

“That’s pretty good…but sadly its not good enough.” She slammed her cards down. “Royal flush.”

Everyone surrounding the table oo’d.

“Strip.”

“I should have put money on this,” Tobin said.

“Come on Tobs, duh you should have put money on it. When have you have known me to lose a game of poker?”

“Good point.”

..

“Holy shit,” Tobin cursed.

Alex’s back was pressed up against her front and they were grinding to a song that she had never heard of, but was beginning to like. Tobin really wanted to question where her girlfriend even learned to dance like this, but at the moment she didn’t care.

She felt like she in heaven. Well she always felt like she was in heaven when she was with Alex, but tonight especially she felt she had taken some forbidden fruit and she was being awarded for it. Her hands had a vice grip on Alex’s hips. She didn’t ever want the forward’s body to be separated from hers ever again.

Sweat was rolling down her face, she was breathing heavily, and Alex showed no signs of letting up on the pressure she was putting against Tobin’s pelvis.

_She has to know how much she is turning me on._

“If you don’t stop doing that, I can’t promise you that I’m going to be able to control myself.” Alex turned around and placed her arms around Tobin’s neck.

“Who’s asking you to?”

Tobin mouth went dry. She didn’t know what to say or do. She was pretty sure her lust was showing in her eyes, and she was also pretty sure that she saw lust in Alex’s too.

“I’m getting pretty thirsty-”

“I’ll go get you some water,” Tobin said quickly. She weaved through the massive body of dancers and went into the kitchen. She couldn’t breathe and she needed to gather her thoughts.

..

The moment Tobin left two of the guys from earlier- the ones that were with the guy that asked her to come to the party- came up and sandwiched Alex. At first the forward didn’t think much of it, because they weren’t even that close to her. Then the guys basically trapped her. That’s when she started to get uncomfortable.

“You know I don’t buy that you and Heath are really together.” Alex stopped dancing.

“It doesn’t go with the social order of things. Girls like you, only date guys like us. That’s how its always been. That’s how it always will be.”

“Well I’m sorry to disappoint, but Tobin and I are actually together,” the forward said. She tried to break free from the guys, but they were like four of her in one body each. The blonde guy grabbed her by her waist.

“Let me go,” she spat.

“Step away from my girl,” Tobin said, coming out of seemingly nowhere. The brown-haired boy stepped in front of his friend and Alex, preventing her from getting any closer to her girlfriend.

“I don’t think so Heath.” The girl responded by kicking him in his nuts. While he cowered over, his blonde friend came over and tried to attack Tobin.

“FIGHT, FIGHT, FIGHT, FIGHT!”

She was unexpectedly knocked off her feet and kicked in her side. Tobin was running off of so much adrenaline that she didn’t even feel it. She hopped back up and swung her fist, only to miss and be swung at herself. She was quick, but not quick enough, and in the process of ducking, his fist clocked her right above her left eyes.

Alex wasn’t going to sit back and watch her girlfriend get into a fight for a second time, so the minute she knew she could step in without getting hurt herself, she pulled Tobin out.

“Baby they aren’t worth it,” she said soothingly into her ear. Her hands were on her chest, holding her back.

Hope, Ashlyn, and Abby had stepped in to keep the two guys at bay, as well Tobin who looked ready to get her hit back. The soccer player placed her hand on her girlfriend’s face to get her to relax.

“Toby calm down.”

“Next time your ‘girlfriend’ won’t be able to save you,” one of the guys yelled.

“Oh don’t worry, we’ll have our time,” she promised.

Tobin let Alex drag her out the house and to her car.

..

“That guy must have been wearing a fucking ring,” Tobin hissed as she tenderly touched her eyebrow. She looked at herself in the mirror. Other than the giant cut over her eye, she was fine. Alex had cleaned her up nicely.

“I really wish you wouldn’t be so quick to fight people,” Alex said folding her arms.

“I don’t care how many times I get hurt as long as you’re safe and no one disrespects you.”

“Well I care if you get hurt Tobin,” the forward said, almost angrily. “I don’t like seeing anyone hurt, especially not you.”

“I can take care of myself, you know. Why are you so worried?”  Alex sighed.

“Because silly, I love you.”

Tobin froze. She as pretty sure that she heard her girlfriend right, but she needed to hear it again.

“Can you repeat that?”

“I love you.”

A wide grin spreads on Tobin’s face and she reaches for Alex and picks her up, spinning her around. She was officially the happiest person alive.

“I love you too,” she breathed as she set the forward down. “I was afraid that you wouldn’t love me back…that you couldn’t love someone like me.”

Alex cups her face and kisses her passionately. When they pulled away, the forward looked Tobin directly in her eyes.

“I could only love someone like you…”


	15. Ribbon

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> What do you do with two sex-deprived teenagers who are wanting the other to make the first move?

They kissed slowly and passionately, not in any particular rush to end their kiss. Alex’s hands slid from her girlfriend’s face to tangling themselves in her light brown hair. She slowly leaned back, pulling the other girl with her. Tobin used one arm for leverage while simultaneously cupping the forward’s face.

“Say it again?” she asked. Alex smiled up at her girlfriend adoringly.

“I love you.”

Tobin rolled off of her girlfriend and sighed happily. Alex snuggled into her side, throwing an arm over her stomach. The two sat in silence for a bit, taking in their recent confessions. Neither one could believe how lucky they got. Tobin because she had found someone who had faith that she could be a better person and loved her, even with knowledge about her past. Alex because she found someone who she felt truly respected her and made her feel like she was the only girl in the world.

“Promise me you won’t get into anymore fights?” Tobin was reluctant to answer and Alex felt her hesitation. “I love that you want to be my knight in shining armor, but I don’t want to make it a habit of me playing the part of your nurse.”

She sat up, so Tobin did too.

Tobin didn’t want to say yes to that, because she was going to make it her job to defend Alex’s honor, but she also lived to please Alex. And since it was obvious that this was something that was important to her girlfriend, she would have to let her pride take a few blows. She also saw the look on the forward’s face, so there was no way she could say no anyway.

“I promise,” she finally conceded.

“Good. And another thing: how dare you say that you can take care of yourself? We’re in this together. Just like its your responsibility to keep me safe, its my responsibility to keep you safe as well.”

Tobin felt stupid for saying that now. It’s not that she didn’t think they were in this together, its just that she always saw herself as the protector, so there was no need for Alex to worry. She felt if the forward was worrying then she wasn’t doing her job. But she now realized that by getting into fights, that all she was doing; worrying Alex. She didn’t want to worry Alex.

“I’m sorry.” The forward smiled.

“I know Toby.”

“I love you.”

“Really? You’ve only said like 20 times it the last 15 minutes,” Alex joked.

“That’s because I meant it.”

Tobin could tell that Alex was worn out and on the verge of falling to sleep any minute so she grabbed her and pulled her back down.

“Go on to sleep. I’ll be here when you wake up,” she promised.

Alex rolled onto her side, resting her head on her pillow. She felt Tobin’s arm slip around her waist and her fingers intertwine with her own. The forward then felt her girlfriend press her lips against the back of her neck, which caused goosebumps to rise and a shiver to go down her spine.

“I love you,” Tobin whispered in her ear.

“I love you too.”

Both went to sleep with smiles on their face. Both felt happier than they had ever been in their entire lives. Both got the most restful sleep of their lives.

..

A love sick puppy.

That is the only way that Hope could describe her once badass friend.

Alex and Tobin were making goofy faces back and forth at each other and were feeding each other pieces of their omelets. She watched as her best friend did almost anything and everything to make her girlfriend laugh.

A long time ago she would have thought it was pathetic. She might have even called them out, but in all honesty she did the same thing with Kelley. She guessed that love did that to you.

Hope noticed a slight change in the couple. She didn’t know what happened after the party, but there was definitely a change there. If possibly the two were even closer than they were before. They were sending each other knowing looks and never disconnected from each other, even while eating.

She didn’t know what was going on, but she knew it wasn’t something she needed to worry about. Besides, she needed to figure out how to tell Kelley her feelings anyway.

..

Servando couldn’t believe that his plan backfired so horribly.

..

The only time Tobin and Alex were ever separated was when they had to go to their classes. Other than that, it was non-stop touching. Whether it was just holding hands, Tobin’s arm around Alex’s waist, or walking extremely close to each other, they were never not in contact with each other.

The two never failed to whisper ‘I love you’s to each other. Before, during, and after make-out sessions or even a kiss they snuck in when no one was looking (not that they cared if anyone was looking anyway), the three words were murmured to each other.

Tobin wondered if maybe she was overusing the phrase, but she couldn’t help saying it so much. She wanted to remind Alex every moment that she had a chance to tell her that she loved her. And the forward always said it back. That was something that she might not ever get use to hearing.

“This is getting out of hand,” Heather whispered to Sydney, who had pushed her lunch aside a long time ago because she had lost her appetite. She could agree more with her teammate. Tobin and Alex had been making out pretty much since lunch started. Everyone at the table tried to ignore them, but that was ten minutes ago and now it was starting to get a little awkward.

It wasn’t just now, but all day really, that their PDA had risen exponentially. Normally couple would only kiss each other in the hallways, or outside in the parking lot or on the field. Now it was pretty much all the time.

When Ashlyn was walking into the bathroom during second period, she saw them kissing like there was not tomorrow, Alex sitting on top of the sink fixture and Tobin standing in between her legs.

There was about five minutes left in fourth period and the lesson was over. Kelley noticed Alex was no longer beside her and when she turned she saw the forward was in her girlfriend’s lap and they were making out.

For lack of a better phrase, they were going at it like teenagers.

Even Hope and Kelley were starting to feel uncomfortable and that’s saying something.

“If you guys wanted us to leave, all you had to do was say so,” Lauren said.

The two continued to lock lips.

“Tobin someone is stealing your motorcycle,” Hope tried.

The only response they got was Tobin pulling away for a split second to say ‘I love you’ to Alex. Nobody was sure if they had even heard her right, but when whispered an ‘I love you too’, their suspicions were confirmed.

However no one could enjoy the sweet moment because the second after, Alex moaned.

“Can you two stop eating each other’s faces for two seconds!?” Kelley exclaimed. Alex broke the kiss, earning a disappointed whine from Tobin, who was half in a daze. Yet, the girl still had a content slash smug grin on her face. Where as the forward would normally blush being called out on their excessive kissing, she didn’t even bat an eyelash.

“Damn, its about time,” Sydney sighed in relief. “Now I can finish my lunch in peace.”

“What is up with you two?” Ali questioned.

“What do you mean?” Alex asked back, popping a strawberry in her mouth. At the same time underneath the table, she moved her hand and placed it high on her girlfriend’s thigh. Tobin, who was in the middle of drinking out of a water bottle, choked a little and went into a short coughing fit. The forward gave her a look that made her knees weak. Good thing she was sitting down already. “Are you okay baby?” Tobin banged her fist on her chest a couple of times and got her breath back.

“Yeah, it just went down the wrong pipe,” she sighed. She shifted in her chair as her heart rate picked again, not that it had even gotten back to normal anyway.

“What Ali means is…why are you two going at it so much!? You’ve seriously been like this all morning!”

“I’m not allowed to be attracted to my girlfriend?”

“Alex,” Christen deadpanned. “Since when have you ever been into this much PDA?” The other only forward shrugged.

“We’ve all got to come out of our shells eventually right?”

..

“She’s killing me Hope,” Tobin said from beside her best friend in the bleachers. “Our make-out sessions are getting really intense.”

“And you’re telling me this because…”

“Because I’m really trying to respect her here, but its getting harder and harder for me to control myself. I know I said that I was fine with just being with her, but I really want to _be_ with her. Like I wanna show her how much I love her by taking it to the next level.”

“Just tell her that.”

Tobin looked at her like she was crazy.

“No dude, I don’t want to seem too eager. I don’t want her to think that’s all I want, because its not. But when it does happen, I want it to be perfect you know? This is too confusing…I just need a sign.”

Hope could tell that Tobin was really conflicted about this. Her friend had never been in a situation like this, so she understood where she was coming from.

“Just do what feels right bro. And you may not think this, but maybe Alex feels the same way.”

..

“It’s so frustrating!” Alex said to Kelley after practice one day. “I mean how more obvious do I have to be?”

“Maybe you’re not obvious enough,” Kelley suggested, smirking.

“I’m serious Kell,” the forward sighed.

“She can’t read your mind Alex.”

“I know but…I know what she’s thinking. Tobin has been holding back because doesn’t want me to feel pressured, but I’m not.”

It was unbearable sometimes. All Alex wanted Tobin to do was make a move…do _something_ to kindle this fire that has been burning inside of her.

“I don’t want to seem inconsiderate or like a bad best friend because I say this, but remember that we have a huge game coming up too Alex.”

“Excellent point O’Hara,” Abby said, clapping the way smaller girl on her back. This game determines if we go to playoffs. And if we are going to win, that means _everyone_ needs to be focused on this game. Any girlfriend problems that you two are having needs to be worked out after we are state champs.” The team captain gave each of them pointed looks.

“Don’t worry Cap. We want to win this thing just as much as you do.”

“Good.” Abby walked out of the locker, with most of the team following after her, as they were done changing out of their gear as well.

“Great…more stuff for me to lose sleep over.”

“Do you really lose sleep, sleeping in the same bed as Tobin?” Kelley smirked. The forward laughed and threw her dirty sock in her best friend’s face.

“No, I don’t.”

..

Tobin and Hope could practically feel their hairs graying. Whenever Alex and Kelley were stressed, they were stressed. This game was taking a toll on all of them. They had never seen a group of people so serious and focused like the soccer team was.

Three things that didn’t sit well with Tobin?

One) the game was away

Two) said game was three hours away

Three) the boys team was sharing a bus with the girls…and said boys team had Servando on it.

“I’ll be fine, I promise,” Alex said, reassuring her by caressing her face, something that always calmed Tobin down. “I’m not worried about Servando and neither should you be, okay?” Tobin nodded her head.

“Okay.”

“I love you, Toby.” The forward slipped her arms around her girlfriend’s neck, while Tobin placed her hands on her hips.

“I love you too, Lex.” She leaned in kissing her the forward deeply, trying to put as much passion into the kiss as possible. They knew that their separation was only for a short period of time, but their lips still moved together as if this would be the last time they ever touched.

“Do you guys want us to be late for the game!?” Lauren called down from the bus window.

Alex and Tobin parted, smiling at each other.

“I’ll miss you,” the forward whispered.

“I’ll miss you more,” Tobin replied.

Alex had to go over to Kelley and Hope and physically separate them.

“We have to leave now Kell,” she said dragging the defender on the bus.

“Kick some ass for me babe!” Hope called out to her girlfriend. Kelley responded by blowing her a kiss.

..

“Wait a minute, what the fuck are we doing?” Tobin asked Hope as they watched the bus drive off. “We should be at that game to support our girls.”

“We should, shouldn’t we?”

“Hell yeah.”

“Well lets go the.”

..

Alex is laughing at something Kelley said when Servando walks up to her. The defender sees him first, holding her hand up and not giving him a chance to speak.

“I don’t think so dude.”

“But I really want to apologize to Alex,” he said. “Please.” Servando seems sincere, but Kelley knows better than to believe him. “Just a quick talk, it won’t take long I promise.”

“Get lost.”

“Kell, its okay,” Alex said. “A quick talk won’t hurt anyone.” The small defender looks from Servando, to her best friend, and back to Servando again.

“Make it snappy.” Kelley leaves and goes to sit next to A-Rod and HAO. She can still see them in her peripheral and if she tried hard enough, she could hear what they were saying.

“I was a jerk Alex and I’m sorry. It was wrong for me to tell you would you could and couldn’t date, and I feel terrible for getting drunk that one night and being so disrespectful towards you.”

Alex being the forgiving and kind person that she is, accepted his apology. Of course she still has some doubts, but she really doesn’t like having enemies.

“I heard some guys attacked Tobin and that party a few days ago, I’m sorry to hear that. I’m glad she’s alright. I really do wish you two well.”

“Thank you,” the forward smiled at him.

..

Servando got up from the seat and walked away from Alex, hiding the smirk on his face. He had fooled her into believing he was sincere about anything he said.

These were going to be an interesting few weeks to come.

..

The game is so intense that Tobin and Hope were about ready to shit their pants. Not only is the game unnecessarily rough, but the crowd is hostile too.

Tobin was already upset and wanted to know what happened on the bus with Servando and Alex, and to add to her stress level, her girlfriend kept getting fouled and the refs weren’t calling shit. She’s just about ready to hop on the field and kick some ass, but she keeps herself under control and watches her temper. But there’s only so much she can take.

“I swear if another bitch touches my girl…” she lets the sentence. Tobin kept reminding herself of how she promised Alex she wouldn’t fight anymore. She’d do anything to avoid that look of disappointment on her girlfriend’s face.

Hope didn’t like what was happening to Kelley either, but at least she could keep herself under control easier.

“You’re so whipped,” she commented.

“Says the girl who says ‘Holy poop’ because her girlfriend doesn’t like her cursing,” Tobin scoffed.

“You don’t see me acting like a little butler for Kelley when she needs a fork or a napkin.”

“Hey, I treat my girl like a princess.”

“And you’re saying that I don’t?”

“I’m not saying anything,” the shorter of the two shrugged. Hope eyed her friend, before rolling her eyes.

Having a contest about who was more whipped was pointless anyway. If anything it just made them more away of how pathetic love had made them. But in a good way.

When Kelley slide-tackled to the ground right before the whistle blows for halftime, Hope loses it.

“You’re right, let’s get these bitches.”

Tobin who was more than ready to get even, stands up right after her friend begins to follow her. However, when she sees the look that Alex gives her from the field she freezes. Knowing that Alex was going to win this staring contest any, she sits back down mumbling to herself.

Kelley gives Hope a signal that lets her know she fine and points to her seat in the stands next to Tobin. The tall brunette pouts, plopping down next to Tobin.

Okay so they were both equally whipped.

..

Diamond Bar wins 3-1.

Alex and Kelley get permission from their coach to ride back with their girlfriends, which made all four of them happy.

Kelley and Hope walk to the Jeep that was parked all the way in the far end of the parking lot.

Tobin notices that her girlfriend is walking with a slight limp and gives her a piggy back ride. She was prepared for her heart  rate to start speeding up, because that’s what it always did whenever Alex touched her. She was not, however, prepared for her girlfriend to start peppering her with kisses on the back of her neck. She was afraid that either she would drop Alex or her knees would give out and both of them would go down.

Needless to say, she is so thankful when they make it to Hope’s Jeep.

After a celebratory dinner at a local Mexican restaurant and the three hour drive back to Diamond Bar, the four drive around the city, not wanting the night to end so early. The time was approaching one o clock in the morning so pretty much all of the town was asleep, but none of them were tired.

As they make their way downtown, a smile begins to creep onto Hope’s face. The next thing Alex, Kelley, and Tobin know, they are in front of the country club.

“Who’s up for a midnight swim?” she asked.

“I’m down,” Tobin said, looking at her girlfriend. Alex shrugged and said she was up for an adventure too. Of course Kelley said yes, because she was basically a five year old at heart.

Hope and Tobin let Kelley and Alex go first, helping them hop the fence that separated the pool from the parking lot. Then they followed suit.

“Do you wanna hop in?” The small defender asked her girlfriend. Hope bit her lip.

“Actually, could you and I maybe chill on the pool chairs for a few?” the freckled girl shrugged, not really caring what they did. The two intertwined their fingers, walked over to the fancy poolside furniture, and made themselves comfortable.

Hope smiled as Kelley told her about all the constellations she could see in the sky and the stories behind them. That’s one thing that she loved about her girlfriend. She always seemed to know facts about he most random things…and Hope could listen to her talk all day.

Once the defender got tired of talking, she resorted to closer her eyes. Hope admired how the moonlight reflected off of her beautiful face and almost seemed to make her freckles disappear.

“Kell?”

“Mhm?”

“You know I’ve always liked you right?” she asked.

“Yeah and I’ve always liked you.”

“Well…” Kelley noticed how Hope paused for an excessive amount of time and opened her eyes. She saw nervousness in Hope’s green ones and how the hand that wasn’t holding hers was drumming its fingers.

“What is it Hope?” The tall brunette sat up from her position and held onto the defender’s hands with both of hers.

“I don’t just like you anymore Kelley…I love you.” Hope bit her lip, trying to gauge her girlfriend’s reaction. After a moment of silence, she was beginning to worry.

“You love me?”

“Yeah,” she breathed.

Kelley decided to stay quiet just a little bit longer to mess with Hope. She felt her girlfriend’s hand start to sweat and she was pretty sure felt them shaking.

“Well its a good thing I love you too, or else this would have been really awkward.” Hope lets out breath she didn’t even know she was holding in. “So are you going to kiss me or what?”

The tall brunette wasted no time attacking the defender’s lips.

..

Alex shoved Tobin a little, and laughed when she flailed her arms in a wide circle, trying to keep her balance and not fall into the pool.

“Now that was just mean,” she said, playfully pointing a finger at her girlfriend.

They stopped into front of the steps that eased in the shallow end of the pool. The forward grabbed the front of Tobin’s shirt, pulling her into a hot kiss. Tobin responded immediately, hungrily slipping her tongue into Alex’s mouth and pulled her closer by her hips.

Alex takes one step forward and Tobin unconsciously takes one step back. Her girlfriend’s hands slip down her front and all she feels is the hot trail that they leave. Her feet are cold some reason and she feels like something is sticking to her leg, but at the moment she doesn’t care. Another step forward from Alex and another step back from her and she feels like something is crawling up her legs. But then again its hard to tell what’s happening when Alex is so close to her. The soccer player moves her lips down Tobin’s jaw for a bit and brings them up for another hot kiss.

The forward takes one final step forward, urging Tobin to take another step back. When they break the kiss, Tobin realizes that they are actually in the water fully clothed.

“I didn’t think it would be this easy to get you wet,” Alex smirks. Tobin gulps loudly. _You have no idea._

Suddenly a giant light is being shined on them out of nowhere.

“Shit!” Hope cursed. Tobin and Alex shuffled out the pool and ran to one of the tables where they left their shoes.

“YOU FOUR SHOULDN’T BE HERE!” A plump security guard yells after them.

Kelley and Alex are the first to hop the fence again. Hope goes and then Tobin tries to follow, but her jeans are caught on the metal. Her adrenaline is pumping and she feels like someone is breathing down her neck. She knows she just being paranoid though, because the guard is still running (and struggling) to get over to where she is.

With some final tugging, she breaks free, but not before her cargoes rip from the side pockets.

The four are laughing their asses off as they get into Hope’s Jeep again.

..

“Do you think she’s getting tired of me?” Tobin asked another question directed at Hope. Her friend rolled her eyes and sighed.

“They are just having a girls day out at the mall Tobin, relax. Calm your tits, I’m trying to watch the game.”

“I can’t relax until Alex is here.”

..

Alex held up the lingerie that Tobin had liked so much a week or so ago and help it up for Kelley to see.

“Oh she is just going to want to eat you up!” Her freckled best friend said enthusiastically.

..

“What’d you buy Lex?” Tobin asked, peeking around Alex to try and look into the bags. The forward smirked and obstructed Tobin’s view of the bag.

“You’ll see soon enough.”


	16. I'll Make Love To You

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Finally the moment we've all been waiting for....

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I’m sorry if its not good, but I tried my best. It also may seem a little short and I apologize for that too.

It was a given that Tobin didn’t handle separation from Alex very well. One, she didn’t really see a point in being away from her girlfriend and two, she was a bit possessive and needy all at the same time. She hated sharing, but in this situation it was necessary and it would be just down right selfish for her to keep Alex away from her mother.

The forward had received a call from the hospital that her mother had an adverse reaction to the latest round of treatments. Though it was minor, Alex still wanted to be with her mother for the next few days. It had already been approved that she could spend the night in her mother’s room.

Tobin understood that her girlfriend wanted to stay there for a couple days. Really she did. Alex and her mother were very close and Tobin herself loved Pam dearly. She hated that the woman was even in this situation because it wasn’t fair for such a sweet person to have such a bad fate.

As soon as school let out and practice was over, Alex headed straight over to the hospital. The forward made sure she grabbed her mother’s favorite book, the Bible. The two Morgans pretty much talked until Pam fell asleep, which was early because the doctors had given her a medicine to counter what they had given her before. By the time the oldest Morgan was asleep, it was 8 o clock.

Tobin surprised Alex by picking up her favorite type of food, Chinese. She also brought her some clothes for the next few days because she knew her girlfriend had forgotten some.

Her new favorite memory probably watching Alex interact with her mother. She loved the way that the dim light reflects off her gorgeous azure eyes and when she was reading to her mother. She also loved helping out Alex whenever she could. With playoffs coming up and with soccer practices getting more and more intense, plus her mother, she knew her girlfriend was tense. Tobin offered to massage her shoulders, with Alex was so grateful for.

The forward loved that Tobin was being so mature about this. She knew that Tobin didn’t really like being away from her, but she was turning out to be the perfect girlfriend in this situation. How she got so lucky she had no idea.

..

Sleeping at night was a completely different story for Tobin. She missed going to sleep next to Alex at night, and waking up next to her. She literally ached to feel the forward in her arms again and see her amazing blue eyes. As lame as it sounded, her heart hurt.

They never had enough time at school to be together. Alex got to it as late as possible without being tardy for first period because she wanted to spend as much time as possible with her mother. In between classes they only had 5 minutes and just having fourth period with Alex wasn’t even enough for Tobin in the first place. Lunch was basically the longest time together that they had.

But even then, it was a struggle. All of their kisses were too short for Tobin. It seemed as though they couldn’t hold onto each other long enough.

Alex felt the same way of course. Though she felt she needed to be with her mother, she had become accustomed to being with Tobin. Especially at night, being wrapped in her arms. She made her feel safe.

And to make things worse? Hope and Kelley have pretty much been rubbing their happy little relationship in both of their faces. The two have been inseparable, walking around with the biggest grins on their faces. It made Tobin want to throw up rainbows.

Don’t get her wrong, she was happy for her best friend, and Alex was the same with Kelley, but for Tobin, she just needed her girl again.

She was so lost.

..

“I feel bad for Alex and Tobin,” Kelley said as she and her girlfriend cuddled on the couch in her parents’ living room.

“Yeah, Tobin has been sulking around the apartment like someone stole her motorcycle or something,” Hope chuckled.

“I’m serious Hope, they are obviously lost without each other. Alex told me she is ready, but Tobin won’t do anything about it.”

“Well that’s because Tobin doesn’t want to push Alex. She basically told me that its Alex’s call.”

“But Alex doesn’t want it to be her call. She’s new to this and she just wants Tobin to act on her feelings.”

“That ain’t happenin’ babe. Tobin doesn’t want to seem too eager.”

“Well Alex isn’t going to say anything…”

“What do you want me to do Kell? Tell Tobin to quit being a little bitch and just bone Alex already?” The small defender smacked her girlfriend on her arm.

“Language. And no don’t tell her that. We need to do something that will make them just act on their feelings.”

Hope thought long and hard about it. She snapped her fingers out of nowhere, catching Kelley off guard and making her jump a little.

“What?”

“We have spirit week right? Isn’t one of the themes like uh…you gotta give someone you admire a flower or something?”

“Babe you’re a genius!” Kelley exclaimed, pressing her lips to her girlfriend’s. “We’ll just have everyone give their flowers to Alex to make Tobin jealous. Eventually she’ll get so jealous that she’ll have to do something.”

“And that something will be to quit beating around the bush.” Hope smirked.

“Perfect.”

..

The first time Alex and Tobin got interrupted was when the forward had first gotten to school. Tobin was getting ready to pull her in for a kiss when some kid (she guessed he was a sophomore or something), came up to Alex and gave her a flower.

“Thank you,” the forward said, smiling sweetly at the boy.

Tobin had completely forgotten it was spirit week. And that today’s theme was to be a not-so-secret admirer and give someone you admire a flower or whatever.

She was cool with one or two people giving Alex a flower to two, but when she was waiting for her girlfriend to come out of first period so she could walk her to second period, the forward had almost two dozen roses in her arms.

“Holy shit Lex, who gave all of these to you?” Alex was afraid that if she told Tobin the exact people she would go hunt them down.

“A few people…” The forward saw how Tobin’s jaw tightened. “It’s no big deal Toby.” Tobin began to protest, but Alex cut her off by kissing her. “I promise.”

“If you say so..”

The fourth time they were interrupted came during lunch. A confident-looking junior came up to Alex, dropped down on one knee, and presented a bouquet of flowers to her. The soccer team covered their mouths, trying not to burst out laughing at Alex’s shocked face and Tobin’s appalled expression.

Tobin stood up abruptly, grabbing the boy by his shirt and pulling him off the ground.

“Get out of here kid!” she demanded. The boy opened his mouth to speak, but she silenced him with a glared. He scampered off without looking back.

Tobin felt Alex grab her hand and tug on it. She reluctantly sat back down next to her girlfriend.

“What on Earth has got your boxers in a bunch, Tobin?” Hope asked mockingly. Tobin gave her an annoyed look.

“You’re funny, Hope. Real funny.”

“How many have you gotten today Alex?” Christen asked curiously.

“Too fucking many if you ask me,” Tobin mumbled under her breath.

Sure she was glad that others appreciated her girlfriend’s perfectness like she did, but it was also just excited the fire inside of her that wanted to claim what was hers

Alex is extremely appreciative of so many people from her school admiring her, but she would be lying if she said it wasn’t becoming a bit much. It seemed like a higher power was paying all these people to interrupt her and Tobin’s intimate moments. The only intimate thing they’ve gotten to do all day was kiss briefly and then the rest of that was pretty much just holding hands. Needless to say, the forward couldn’t not wait for some alone time.

..

“Another night?” Tobin asked, almost sadly.

“Toby, I just want to make sure my mom is for sure okay with this treatment that she’s getting. They had to run some more tests to make sure she doesn’t have another weird reaction to this stuff.”

“I know, I’m sorry. I just miss you Lex.”

“I miss you too Toby.”

Alex buried her face in her girlfriend’s neck. Tobin wrapped her arms tightly around the forward’s waist, pulling her as close as possible.

“I have to go,” the forward whispered.

Tobin grabbed Alex’s face and pressed her lips to hers. They missed this. So much. Neither one realized how much they truly missed being together like this until now.

“I love you,” Tobin said.

“I love you too.”

As soon as Alex knew she was out of Tobin’s sight, she pulled over into an empty parking lot and shot Kelley and Hope a text.

Alex: Keep her busy

..

Hope watched as Tobin stared at where Alex’s car used to be. The forward had been gone for a good five minutes, but Tobin had yet to move from her spot. She reached up and placed a hand on her friend’s shoulder, snapping her out of her trance.

“Me and Kell were going to head down to Uncle Phil’s for a while. You should come,” she offered.

“Thanks bro, but I don’t want to impose.”

“Nonsense! You’re coming with us,” Kelley said enthusiastically. “It’ll be fun!”

“She doesn’t like to take no for an answer,” Hope added. Tobin sighed. She honestly didn’t want to be alone anyway and she loved going to Uncle Phil’s. She guessed a few hours wouldn’t hurt.

When they got there, Tobin wasn’t so sure how it was going to turn out. There were definitely more people there than usual, but then Kelley challenged her to a round of pool. Her competitive side came out and soon she was forgetting all about how she would probably have yet another sleepless night.

After beating her friend’s girlfriend two times out of three, she moved on to challenge Hope. The defender decided to leave the two alone for a bit and went to go to the claw grab machine to try and win a stuffed squirrel.

“Hey,” Hope said

“Wassup?” Tobin asked, lining up the stick for her shot.

“Keep your head up alright? I know you’re missing Alex right now and all, but think of it this way. Its only a few more hours and its not like you don’t get to see her at all.”

“Yeah I guess you’re right dude,” Tobin said after thinking a while.

Kelley came up to them ten minutes later with saying the machine didn’t even have any squirrels and she was ready to leave. Hope looked down at her watch. It was almost 8:30. By the time that they got to Tobin’s it would be close to at least 8:45.

“You ready to go man?” Hope asked.

“Ready when you guys are,” Tobin shrugged.

“Alright well lets be up out this thang!” Kelley said.

The ten minutes ride was completely silent except for Hope and Kelley talking quietly to each other. Tobin wasn’t even listening to their conversation or paying attention to anything. She was just looking out the window at the darkening clouds. The weather forecast this morning didn’t say anything about rain.

She took a second and mentally laughed at herself. She missed Alex so much that she was actually watching the news and weather forecasts. How pathetic of me she thought.

Tobin got out of Kelley’s car. She expected Hope to follow, but when she turned around, her friend wasn’t behind her.

“Aren’t you coming?” she asked.

“Didn’t I tell you? I’m staying with Kelley tonight.”

“Oh.” Well that completely killed Tobin’s already not-so-good mood. Alex was with her mother and now her best (and only) friend wasn’t even staying with her.

“But I’ll see you tomorrow bro,” Hope said.

“Yeah….” she really did try not to sound disappointed.

“Goodnight Tobin!” She doesn’t even feel like saying anything back so she just holds up a peace sign with her left hand.

..

Tobin opens the door to her apartment. Its completely dark and she starts to reach for the light switch, but decides not to mess with it in the end. She’s the only one here so what does light matter anyway? What does anything matter without Alex?

“Might as well go to bed early…”

She fails to notice the faint glow underneath their door as she makes her way to their room. Tobin opens their bedroom door and is met by a dazzling display of candles scattered all over the room. Its not the fact that the display was beautiful…

That’s not what takes her breath away.

..

Tobin blinks a few times, not knowing if this was real life or not; if what she was seeing was real or not.

It couldn’t have been Alex standing in the middle of their bedroom in nothing but the purple lingerie that she saw in Victoria’s Secret that one day in the mall and the necklace that she got her. She was supposed to be with her mother at the hospital, not here surrounded by shimmering lights.

Her heart is racing uncontrollably. Her mouth is hanging open, drool threatening to escape. She feels lightheaded and she is certain that she is flushed from head to toe. Oh and on top of that she can’t breathe and she’s at a loss words for words.

Alex giggles at her girlfriend’s expression. Tobin blinks once more. The sound of the forward’s laughter is on the list of the sexiest things she’s ever heard.

“I’ve missed you.” She looks around to see if she was the one being spoken to, but then realize that of course she’s the one Alex is talking to. No was else was there.

Tobin clears her throat, trying to remember how to speak.

“I-I’ve missed you t-too.”

The forward steps closer until their faces are inches apart. Tobin’s heart quits racing and just stops all together.

“Well what are you going to do about it?”

And that’s all Tobin needs. She quickly grabs Alex’s face and kisses her passionately. They stay this way for a while, just moving their lips together, kissing each other deeply, and holding other close until Alex pulls back.

Tobin lovingly caresses the forward’s face and searching in her ocean blue eyes for any hint of doubt. For any hint that she might regret this in the morning. That maybe she isn’t even the one that Alex wants to do this with. But she finds nothing except fire.

So she resumes kissing her with all she’s got. Alex’s hands are busy roaming all over her torso and leaving burning trails all over her skin. She pulls back yet again to take Tobin’s shirt off of her, but she accidentally rips it off instead.

“Oops.”

Alex crashes her lips back into her girlfriend’s and entangles her hands in her light brown hair. Tobin can no longer control herself and picks to carry her to the bed, never breaking their kiss, never breaking contact with the forward’s skin.

The need for each other is so desperate and one by one, they start removing what’s left of each other’s clothing. Tobin’s pants come off next, followed Alex’s bra and panties, and then Tobin’s sports bra and boxers.

Tobin is momentarily taken aback by Alex’s beauty. Her breath hitches. She can’t believe how soft her skin is; how intoxicating the forward smells. No, Tobin will never get enough of Alex. She runs a shaking hand down Alex’s chest and down to her stomach where she spots a lone freckle. It seems out of place, but it makes seem even more perfect in Tobin’s eyes.

Alex watches as Tobin looks over every inch of her body. When her hand goes down her chest, she looks away. She hates that her insecurities chose now to show up. She knows Tobin has probably been with many other girls with a bigger chest than hers and she prays that she’s half as good in bed as they are. She’s new to this. She doesn’t want to screw up.

“Hey,” Tobin says, taking her thumb and forefinger and turning the forward’s head so they facing each other. “Look at me.” She waits until she does. “You’re perfect,” she said reassuringly, as if reading her girlfriend’s mind. “You know I love you right?”

The forward nods her heads and forces herself to calm down.

“Are you sure you want this?”

“Yes.” Tobin only nods as she leans down to kiss Alex again. This one is slower though. Much slower and portrayed much more emotion. She slips her tongue in Alex’s mouth, deepening their kiss. Her lips slowly move away from Alex’s and go southeast to her jawline. She presses hot kisses lower and lower until she’s at the forward’s collarbone.

All while Tobin is doing this, Alex lets her hands wander. Her touches are curious and tentative, but still make her girlfriend crazy. Tobin has never experienced someone loving her enough to take the time to map out her entire body like this. Her skin on fire and hair is sticking to her forehead from the layer of sweat that is forming. Both of their hands tremble as they explore every inch of each other.

As Tobin’s hand moves lower and lower, Alex’s breaths are becoming more ragged. Her hand seemed to be everywhere, but the place where she wanted it the most.

“Tobin, please,” the forward breathed out.

Her hand stops right above Alex’s center.

They make eye-contact, Tobin asking for permission with her eyes. The soccer player slowly nods, urging her to continue. She couldn’t take much more of this.

Alex’s eyes became hooded Tobin finally entered her. She sucked in a quick breath, her hands grasping the sheets.

Tobin pumped her hand in and out slowly, letting Alex get used to the feeling. She simultaneously peppered kisses all over the forward’s face, nipping in certain places. She knew where Alex’s sweet spot was, so she started sucking there.

“Shit,” the forward cursed, letting out a sexy moan.

They quickly start to find a rhythm together that leaves them both breathless, drenched in sweat with the hearts threatening to pop out of their chests.

Alex’s back arches as Tobin goes deeper and picks up pace. She doesn’t really know where to put her hands at first. Holding onto the sheets just wasn’t cutting it for her anymore. With all the emotions running through her, she needs to find something to grab so she settles for moving her hands around Tobin’s stomach and onto her back. Her nails dig into her skin. She thinks she’s hurt her, but Tobin embraces the pain and lets out an aroused groan.

The forward’s breaths get shallower and shallower as her moans increase in pitch and frequency.

“I’m close,” Alex manages out.

“Me too,” Tobin says almost inaudibly.

“Oh God…” The forward’s eyes are squeezed shut, but Tobin wants to be able to her eyes when she comes. She could feel her insides clenching around her fingers which told her that it would be any moment now.

“Open your eyes.”

Alex can barely process anything right now, but she does hear Tobin. Her eyes shoot open and she sees Tobin’s brown ones staring back into hers. Tobin thrusts one final time…

And in a sweet moment of unity and complete passion, the butterflies in their stomach take flight and they plunge over the edge together. Alex with the sexiest (and loudest) of moans yet, and Tobin with Alex’s name on her lips. The two cling to each other, shivering and bodies glistening, trying to catch their breath and quell their raging hearts.

Later in the darkness, long after the last candle has burnt out and the shaking has subsided, Tobin kisses Alex on the back of her neck.

“Stay with me?” she asked, her voice hoarse.

“I’m not going anywhere,” Alex said.

“I love you.” Tobin was drifting off, but she was trying to stay awake. Alex turned around in her arms so they were facing each other.

Blues eyes stared into brown ones.

“I love you too,” she whispered. The forward kissed her lips one time before burying her face in the crook of her girlfriend’s neck.

..

Tobin had been admiring the angel in her arms for the last half hour now. She had concluded that last night was definitely not a dream, judging by the clothes on the floor and the fact that they were both still nude, but it might as well have been a dream. The perfectness of last night could have only been from a sweet fantasy.

Alex woke up when she felt that a pair of eyes were on her. She knew those pair of eyes were Tobin’s, just by the chills and sense of security that she felt. However, she didn’t want to open her eyes just yet. She wanted to relish in this moment a little bit longer.

When she finally did open her eyes, Tobin was looking right into them with a smile on her face. The hand that was in her hair tucked a strand behind her ear.

“Good morning, Beautiful.”

“Good morning…” The forward yawned, sitting up and bringing the blanket up with her to cover her chest. Tobin admired everything from her bed hair to the curve of her back, and how Alex’s delicate hand was playing with the ‘T’ necklace hanging from her neck.

“Last night was undoubtedly the best night of my life.”

“Mine too,” Alex agreed. Tobin wasn’t finished with her speech though.

She took a deep breath and prepared to spill to her heart out.


	17. Find Your Way Back Home

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “Yeah pants will be a good start,” she whispers to herself. “No shoes, no pants, no service right?”

“Sometimes your nearness takes my breath away and all the things I want to say I can find no voice. Then, I can only hope my eyes can speak for my heart.”

Alex gets ready to speak, but Tobin motions for her to wait. If she keeps this in much longer, she just might explode. She is hit with the full weight of the love and need for her girlfriend. Everything that is precious to her is right in front of her.

“Alex I don’t know how I got so lucky with you, but I will not question it. I don’t ever want to be apart from you again. You’re my world, Alex. I don’t know who I was before you and I may still not even know who I am now. But I do know who I want to be. I want to be someone that makes you smile and laugh and who gets the opportunity to love you and be loved by you.”

The whole time she spoke, her eyes stayed on the forward’s. She stumbled a little in her sentences, but her eyes showed nothing but sincerity.

Alex on the other hand didn’t know what to do or say. Tobin never failed to amaze her. She couldn’t even begin to describe how she felt. Her heart was starting to race almost as fast as it had last night and that was saying something.

She brought her hand up to cup her girlfriend’s face.

“You’re amazing Tobin, you know that?”

“Nah babe, you’re the amazing one. You’re perfect.”

“I think you’re perfect too.” Tobin gave her a look that said ‘yeah right.’ She could do a venn diagram of the two the only things that they would have in common are the facts that they go to the same school and they were both white. Alex would have intelligence, beauty, and all around perfectness on her side, and all Tobin would have is the ability to screw up. “I’m serious Toby.”

“Why? How? How can I be amazing?”

“Well you love me and I think that is pretty amazing,” Alex said matter of factly.

“Alex, you’re easy to love. Anyone who has never met you or even seen you would fall in love with yo-”

“And you’re perfect because you’re sweet and caring and funny. Plus you’ve got those sexy abs going for you,” the forward added, poking Tobin in her stomach, who in return let out a chuckle.

They sat there smiling at each other for a few moments, then Tobin went to inspecting Alex’s body, or the part she could see and that wasn’t covered up anyway. She noticed a few purple spots along her neck and shoulders, but other than that her skin didn’t have any flaws.

“You’re perfect for me,” Alex concluded. Tobin leaned in so their noses were touching.

“And you’re perfect for me too. I don’t want anyone else, but you loving me.” Not even a moment after their lips were on top of each others’. They tried to get as close as possible to each other without pulling the covers off of them because it was freezing in their bedroom.

..

They didn’t end up making it to school until a period right before lunch. Rounds two and three ended up lasting a lot longer than both of them had anticipated. Not that either them were complaining. Still though, after that Alex had so do _something_ to cover up the massive hickeys Tobin had given her.

She was glowing.

That was the first thing Kelley noticed when she saw her best friend. Her first guess still would have been that they had sex, even though she already knew that they did. There was an undeniable difference in the two. Yet in some ways, most ways she should say, they hadn’t really changed at all. The defender saw everything from the lingering touches to the backwards glance Alex sent back at Tobin.

One would think that with the two being together all morning that their need would have decreased a little, but it only intensified. That was definitely displayed at lunch when their lips didn’t disconnect for a whole ten minutes.

Her teammates noticed that Alex was glowing too, but none were sure if they should say anything about it. All of them could see the signs. Though it was very faint, they could definitely see hickeys on Alex’s neck, but that wasn’t even new. There just seemed be a new added beauty to the way that they looked at each other and how in sync they seemed to be.

In fact, it was actually getting kind of out of hand. They were sweet. Too sweet even. All were on the verge of stepping in to get them to tone it down a little, but they really appreciated the beauty of it too much to even do something.

“You guys need quit making out so much. At least in front of us anyway.” That was something that Ashlyn had to put a stop to. She was not about to sacrifice her lunch just so the two could be all lovey-dovey.

“Yeah guys, we talked about this last time,” Sydney agreed.

“Sorry,” Alex said in a way that said she wasn’t sorry at all. She had completely deserted her chair and just settled for sitting in Tobin’s lap.

“Aren’t you guys going to eat?” Hope really wanted to say that they probably ate all last night and part of this morning, but she decided against it. It was actually her girlfriend who beat her to any comment she had to say.

“They got here like 30 minutes ago, they shouldn’t be hungry.”

“Oh so you two skipped then?” Lauren said in her motherly tone.

“Hell yeah they did,” Kelley scoffed.

“You jealous?”

“Watch it Morgan. Remember all I’ve done for you,” the defender said. The two smirked at each other, having a silent little conversation that only left everyone, excluding Hope and Tobin, confused.

..

The second they separated, Alex did everything in her power to not think about last night and early this morning. She knew that if one memory popped up in her head, she wouldn’t get anything done. So, she dove head first into her books and school work, not coming up for air until she was with Tobin again.

Tobin on the other hand did nothing _but_ daydream about last night and this morning. She relived every single moment in her mind and needless to say, she was blushing from head to toe and was left sitting in her seat flustered.

Hope rolls her eyes at her best friend. Tobin hadn’t sat in one place from the moment they got into the bleachers to watch their girlfriends practice.

“You’re so whipped.”

“Can it, Solo.”

That’s the only comment she makes about Tobin’s behavior. She knows all too well what she her friend is feeling from being with Kelley. Hope has no idea how Tobin is still seen as the more badass one because at least she can control said feelings unlike her shorter, lovesick and goofy friend.

But all in all, she’s happy for Tobin because she knows how this kind of love feels.

Kelley on the other hand is all but quiet. She wants details, but Alex is keeping her mouth shut. The forward hadn’t even hinted anything to the defender and she was about to go crazy.

“Please?” her freckled best friend begged during a water break

“No.”

“But Alex-”

“But Kelley,” the forward interrupted. “I’m not going to tell you what happened Kell, so just use your imagination. That night was sacred to me and its not something I’m just going to tell the whole world.”

“You won’t be telling the whole world, you’ll be telling me,” Kelley insisted. The forward gave her a look.

“No offense Kelley, but you aren’t really the best at keeping secrets.” Their coach blew their whistle, signaling that it was time for them to get back to it.

“Yet I’m offended…” Alex walked off and the short freckled girl quickly followed.

“O’Hara, don’t act like you don’t know how this works. Middies and forwards to the left, defenders to the right,” their coach barked out to the small girl. Kelley sighed dramatically, but did as she was told.

After another twenty minutes of doing stations with their groups, they were split up evenly. Alex and Kelley were on opposite teams, but that didn’t stop the defender from trying to communicate with Alex before the actually playing would begin. Her mistake was that when she was trying to talk to the forward again, she hadn’t even realized that their coach was talking.

“You know the rules ladies. No talking when I’m talking. Everyone on the goal line.” The girls grudgingly made their way to the line, shoulders slumped and their eyes cold.

“Dammit Kelley,” Christen hissed under her breath to the defender.

“Thanks a lot Kell,” Alex whispered harshly.

“All of this could have been avoided if you would just tell me.”

“Oh do not put the blame on me, you’re the one th-”

“GO!” All players took off sprinting.

..

One thing about Alex is that she likes to have her moments perfect. But these moments are becoming increasingly harder to find with the weather and all the school work that is being thrown on her. All week she’s been holding on to something special that she wants to give Tobin, but wants this night to be perfect.

That opportunity comes on a Thursday. The forward watched the weather channel like a hawk, noting that fact that the meteorologists were wrong in predicting when the weather would stop. They said Wednesday, but all through the day the rain never ceased. Thursday it was beautiful outside. Except for the occasional puddle and wet grass, you couldn’t even tell that it had been raining. The sky was blue, the birds were chirping…

Alex was finally able to ask Tobin on that date like she wanted to. The two were walking to the forward’s car after practice when she suddenly stopped and pulled Tobin back with her.

“What’s up Lex?” Tobin asked, habitually placing her hands on her girlfriend’s hips.

“Can we go out to dinner tonight?” the soccer player asked.

“We can do anything you want. You didn’t even have to ask. You could have just say ‘Tobin we’re going out to dinner tonight’ and I wouldn’t have even questioned it.” Alex chuckled.

“You’re cute.”

“Babe, we’ve over this a thousand times. I’m. Sexy. What are we going to do about that memory of yours, Lex?”

The forward slips her hands underneath Tobin’s shirt. Her hands are hot compared to her girlfriend’s skin. Tobin’s abs contract at the contact.

“I don’t know, I guess you’re going to have to remind me tonight,” Alex said just above a whisper.

“I would not be opposed to that.”

“I would,” Hope said out of nowhere, with Kelley right underneath her arm.

“I don’t see how you guys are so oblivious to that fact that you have an audience. Like seriously we need to work on that,” Sydney said.

The truth was that the two had forgotten that they weren’t even alone.

“Oops.”

..

Alex decides to wear the black dress that she and Kelley had gotten on one of their shopping trips. As she is fixing her hair into soft curls, she hears Tobin cursing under her breath and muttering about what outfit would be appropriate. She figured Tobin would have trouble and luckily she had already been thinking about something her girlfriend could wear all day.

When she walks out she sees Tobin fumbling around in the closet. Alex has to dodge a shirt as makes her way behind the girl. Her girlfriend tosses shirt after shirt out of the closet and then settles for digging around on the lower rack for some pants to wear. She’s in nothing but boxers and sports bra.

“Yeah pants will be a good start,” she whispers to herself. “No shoes, no pants, no service right?”

Alex decides to take a step back to admire Tobin’s adorableness…and her cute little butt.

“I don’t even know where we are going. God, I’ll probably look ratchet compared to Alex and everyone else.”

“How about I help you pick something out Toby?”

Tobin, who was completely unaware that Alex was behind her, jumped a little, banging the side of her head on the door frame when she tried to turn around. Her breath is taken away when she sees Alex and her knees almost give out. She has to hold onto the door frame to keep from falling over.

“Are you okay?” Alex asked with a giggle as she made her way over to Tobin.

Tobin takes in the black dress that her girlfriend has on that hugs every curve and leaves almost nothing for her to imagine. Around her neck is the ‘T’ necklace and her girl had managed to find some earrings that matched it. She notices that Alex’s hair looks slightly shorter because of the soft curls, but all in all, she looks perfect.

She always looks perfect.

The light-haired girl can only nod at the question that she almost forgot she was asked. She doesn’t hesitate to capture Alex’s lips with hers. Tobin makes sure that the kiss isn’t too aggressive because she knows Alex doesn’t want her make-up and hair ruined, but that doesn’t stop her from putting her all into the kiss.

“You look amazing,” Tobin murmured against her lips.

The forward finally manages to get her girlfriend in some black skinny jeans and a white turtle neck. A few more kisses and pouting later, Alex drags Tobin out their bedroom.

Kelley and Hope are cuddled up on the couch when they walk out. The defender starts hooting and hollering moment she sees her best friend.

“Sexy Lexy!” Alex laughs at her goofy best friend.

“Damn…” Hope mumbles before she even knew what she was saying and could stop herself. Tobin eyes shoot to her and give her a warning look. Kelley smacks her on her arm repeatedly. “Ow, Kell! It was an accident, I swear!” Hope said trying to defend herself.

“I can’t believe you just did that!”

“Babe, I’m sorry just hear me out,” Hope pleaded, grabbing her girlfriend’s arms so she couldn’t be hit anymore.

Alex and Tobin decided to leave on that note, letting the two work it out on their own.

“Don’t wait up,” Tobin called out the door. Hope and Kelley stopped mid-sentence of their argument to throw a ‘Later!’ out to them.

“Kelley let I can explain,” Hope said once more. The defender folded her arms and raised her eyebrow.

“Oh you can explain huh? Lets hear this explanation then.”

Hope opens her mouth to speak, but nothing comes out. A whole 15 seconds goes by and Kelley is still waiting on her to say something.

“…I got nothin’,” she finally admits. The defender stands up to leave, but the tall brunette grabs her wrist before she can get too far. “Wait Kelley don’t go. One, I don’t even like Alex like that. Two, she’s Tobin’s girl which totally breaks the lesbian code and plus she’s your best friend. I think of her more as an…attractive sister.”

“So you admit that you find her attractive then?” _Shit, why did I say that?_ Hope thought. She quickly stood up so she was looking down at her girlfriend.

“Exponentially less attractive than you, but still somewhat attractive.”

“Uh huh…nice save.”

“I love you,” Hope tried.

She knew Kelley was caving just by the small smile that was tugging at her lips.

“You’re lucky you’re cute.”

Hope gave her a blinding smile and quickly kissed her.

..

When Tobin sees where Alex has taken her to, she immediately begins to panic. She feels under dressed and out of place. The forward senses this and cups her face.

“You look wonderful,” she said pressing her forehead to her girlfriend’s. Tobin only nods, she feels better but not my much.  “Do you trust me?”

“Of course I do, Lex.”

“Good. Everything will be okay,” she promised. ”I won’t let go of your hand.” Tobin can’t help but steal a kiss before they enter the restaurant.

Alex can tell that Tobin is still nervous. That was a given considering they had only been there for maybe ten minutes and they hadn’t even ordered yet. Tobin on the other hand didn’t want to do anything that would embarrass Alex. She and Hope usually dined at places like Burger King and Taco Bell, not fancy restaurants.

“Loosen up babe.” Tobin is working on that part. Alex is worried that this may never happen, but then some old lady comes in with a crazy hairdo and they are both joking around and having fun.

Finally it comes time to order.

“Don’t order anything from the left side of the menu. They are all hot and spicy,” Alex warned. “Especially the Phall. No one has ever been able to take three bites of the dish.”

Tobin only saw this as a challenge and ordered the dish.

“Yeah I think I’ll have the Phall please,” she told the waiter. He nodded and wrote the order down.

“Tobin what did I just tell you?”

“Relax babe, I can handle it,” she assures her. Hot wings from Wing Stop and Buffalo Wild Wings had prepared her for situations like this. While she is priding herself, Alex quietly orders some extra water and even milk to be brought to the table. Tobin just knows she’s going to impress her girlfriend when their food gets here.

“You know you can still get your order changed…”

“Not happening,” Tobin smiled.

Their dishes get there in less than twenty minutes. Alex takes a bite of hers and closes her eyes in ecstasy.

“Toby try this, its so good!” she exclaimed, holding her fork out for her girlfriend. Tobin takes a bite, agreeing with her girlfriend before focusing on her own plate.

The second the phall hits her tongue, she feels the heat in not only her mouth, but her whole face. Alex, seeing Tobin’s discomfort, offers her water, but Tobin rejects it not wanting to disappoint her. By the time she finishes the dish, sweat is literally pouring down her face and she can’t even feel her tongue. Her mouth is on fire and all she wants is for this to be over.

Not being able to take it anymore, she snatches the glass of milk Alex had placed in front of her. The forward gently dabs her clean napkin with water and wipes off Tobin’s face.

They leave the restaurant with Alex still wiping her girlfriend’s face, but now the worried expression is gone and she’s on the verge of tears from laughing so much. Tobin settles for pouting, but that is soon thrown out the window and she is laughing too. Laughing as much as her burnt mouth allows that is.

“Come on, lets go get you a milkshake,” the forward offered. Tobin at the moment, with her mouth still somewhat in an inferno, couldn’t think of a better idea.

..

After the milkshakes, Alex asks Tobin if she wanted to go on a walk on one of the nearby secluded beaches. Of course Tobin agrees. Its not like she would say no to Alex anyway, plus she really doesn’t want this night to end either.

Listening to the waves, they walked with their fingers intertwined and their shoes in the hands that weren’t connected to each others. Alex suddenly stops, dropping her shoes and pulling her girlfriend into a deep kiss. Tobin drops her shoes as well, her hand coming up to cup the forward’s face. Their lips moved in perfect synchronization, but the kiss ended all too soon for Tobin.

Alex pulls back and sighs, looking out into the darkness. Their hands are still connected and her head is resting on Tobin’s shoulder. The silence starts to worry Tobin. Its been a really long time since she’s spoken.

“What’s on your mind?” Tobin finally asked. Alex turns her head, smiling sweetly at her girlfriend.

“I have something to give you,” the forward says. She pulls a small box out of her clutch and nervously  places it in Tobin’s hands and puts her hand on top of hers. “Before you open it, there’s something I have to tell you.”

Tobin nods and motions for her to continue.

“When we started sharing the same bed you were sometimes murmur in your sleep about being lost. You were pretty restless in the beginning and you would only stop when you wrapped your arm around me or when I placed my head in the crook of your neck.”

“Lex, I’m so sorry,” Tobin apologized. “I feel so embarrassed…”

“Don’t Toby, its okay,” Alex assured. “As time passed, you got better and now it almost never happens.” Tobin smiles. “Open it.”

She does. Inside there’s a small antique silver compass and on the back there’s a small inscription that reads ‘Toby’. Its probably the most exquisite things Tobin has ever seen besides Alex.

“Its so you can always find your way back to me,” the forward explains shyly.

“I love it. And because you’re the one who gave it to me, its the most precious thing in the world. Or almost…you’re the most precious thing in the world.”

“I love you…I really love you,” Alex says. Their faces are only inches apart.

“I really love you too.”

They kissed passionately for the longest, completely forgetting about the world around them. Tobin pulls them so close together that nothing can slide between them. Alex’s hands find her girlfriend’s hair and Tobin begins to toy with the zipper on the side of the forward’s dress.

“You’re so beautiful,” she whispered between kisses. The forward responded by tugging on the her lip.

The heavens open up and rain begins to pour but they are too lost in each other to care. They’ve reached the point of no return.

They make love on that secluded beach in the pouring rain, under the soft glow of the moon, beneath the blanket of shimmering stars and with the waves crashing on the reefs around them. Two hearts beating as one. Two halves now complete. Two souls forever united. What once was lost is now found.

There is never a time or place for true love. It happens accidentally, in a heartbeat, in a single flashing, throbbing moment.


	18. You Win

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "I wish we had never done this, and now I just want to forget about it.”

Alex and Tobin held on to each other long after the rain had stopped. Both of them felt high on love and didn’t want to come down any time soon. Dawn was fast approaching and even the sweetest of nights must come to an end. Tobin shivered, pulling Alex closer and kissing her forehead.

“I love you.”

“I love you too baby,” the forward said back in her raspy voice that Tobin had always thought was sexy.

They stayed on that secluded beach longer than they should have dared, but neither wanted to move from their positions. They wanted to just lay there and just forget the world. Life didn’t work like that though. School was in a few hours and if they didn’t get back soon, Hope and Kelley would send a man hunt after them.

The journey back to their apartment was a silent one, but it was a comfortable silence. They felt forever changed. As Tobin drove home, they two held hands the whole time, wanting to stay connected in any way possible.

When they walked into their apartment, Hope and Kelley were still on the couch, wrapped into each others. A trace of tall brunette’s infamous smirk was visible, but there was a hint of the most sublime of smiles…on both of their faces.

Tobin and Alex tiptoed quietly so as to not awaken the sleeping couple and retreated to the safety and sanctity of their bedroom, hand in hand. Two bodies, one soul.

..

“They had sex right? Like they’ve totally done it. Am I the only one who thinks this?” Sydney asked.

“Oh yeah they definitely have,” Christen agreed. “More than once, that’s for sure.”

“For hours at a time,” Heather added.

“You guys know we can hear you right?” Alex said from Tobin’s side.

“Yeah I mean seriously,” Tobin agreed.

“They can speak!” HAO exclaimed, earning a glare from the couple.

“I’m seriously shocked to hear that,” Lauren commented. “You two are also so absorbed in each other, and you are always oblivious to everything around you.”

“That’s not true,” the forward scoffed.

Everyone else at the table gave each other knowing looks.

“Yeah okay whatever you say love birds.”

Abby walked up to their table, and everyone got silent. None of them had ever seen their captain looking this serious.

“I hope everyone knows how important this game is tonight. We’ve made it to playoffs and we are hosting. Does anyone know how many people are expected to show?” There was maybe five seconds of silence and then she continued. “7500 ladies.”

“Holy shit,” Megan muttered.

“For bleachers that only hold ten thousand, I’d say that’s a pretty good turn out. For a soccer game and even for a girls soccer game at that. Now, I’m not saying this to make anyone nervous, I’m saying this to help you focus and to encourage you to give your all.”

The five eleven forward and captain walked off after that. It was just now setting in how important this game actually is. Yeah they were expected to win and beat the team who was in a whole other conference, but it didn’t mean the game should be taken lightly.

Tobin literally felt the change in her girlfriend. She sensed Alex’s stress level increase and her urgency increase. That only meant that now Tobin would be high strung as well because it stressed her out to see her girlfriend stressed.

This also meant that their intimacy would be kicked down a level until right before the game when Tobin would wish the forward good luck.

..

Classes seemed to fly by and soon enough it was time for the game.

“Kick some ass for me babe,” Tobin said, smiling adoringly at the forward. “Don’t let those other girls push you around out there. And if things get out of hand, you just give me a signal and come out on the field myself.”

“That won’t be necessary, but thank you Toby.”

Tobin leaned down to kiss her girlfriend. It felt like it had been ages since she had last kissed her, but in reality, its only been a couple of hours. Their lips moved in perfect synchronization. As all of their kisses were, it was full of passion and desire. And always, it ended way too soon. Kristie was sent out of the locker room to go retrieve the forward because their coach was ready. She had already missed Abby’s pre-game speech, but that was normal. The older and bigger forward usually gave her words of encouragement out on the field.

“You’ll do great, Lex,” Tobin said confidently.

“I’ll score a goal for you.”

“Whether you do or not, I’ll still be proud of you. I love you.”

“I love you too, Toby.” Alex leaned up to kiss her girfriend’s lips one more time before going over to Kristie who was looking at anything but the two and holding the door open for the forward.

..

Even with Diamond Bar leading one nil, and the ball on their offensive end, the opposing team still chose to be unnecessarily rough. DB players were going down left and right. Fortunately they were getting back up, but things were getting out of hand. The center ref had already issued a yellow to a player and it had only been 23 minutes into the game.

“I swear if one of those bitches touches my girl…”

“Tobs, you say that every game.”

“And like you don’t about Kelley?”

“…point taken.”

By half time the two girls were just about ready to start a fight with somebody for no reason because their anxiety was at an all time high and the officiating was shit. You’d think that at home, they would get most of the calls and the refs would try to protect the players, but it had been the opposite. Luckily for the other team, Alex and Kelley remained unharmed. 

Ten minutes into the second half and the other team got the equalizer off of a mistake that no one could really control. It had started raining heavily and a puddle formed on the turf. What was going to be a fast break up the field, ended up being a 25/75 situation because the ball stopped abruptly in one of the puddles. With the opposing team having more numbers, Ashlyn was basically left to fend for herself.

“We’re okay ladies, just adjust to it!” their coach shouted out onto the field.

Ashlyn was fuming in the goal and while Diamond Bar had the possession in the midfield, it was up to Ali to calm her down.

“You’re fine Ash, shake it off.”

HAO looked up with the ball at her feet to see a defender approaching her cautiously. She did her signature move – two small touches and a long one – and flew past the player who was trying to get her ankles in check. She spotted an opening up field. It was small, but if she could time it right, they could beat the defense altogether.

She crossed the ball, aiming for the top of the eighteen.

Alex was well behind the play because she had gone back to play defense, but she saw exactly what her teammate saw. She sprinted as fast as she could to where she expected the ball to land. For a split second, she thought one of the defenders might get it first, but there was a high bounce and soon it was just her and the keeper.

She knew she only had a small window of time to get a foot on the ball. Without another thought, she chipped the ball just right so it sailed over the goalkeeper. It was now 2-1 Diamond Bar with seven minutes let in the game.

..

After a win and a very long speech from their coach, the team thought it would be a great idea for a bonfire. The rain had stopped and was long gone and showed no signs of coming back. Lauren and Christen happened to be the nature gurus of the team and knew exactly how to start a controlled fire. Coincidentally, Megan had a huge bag of giant marshmallows. No one questioned why, they just went with it. She’s had bigger surprises than that.

There wasn’t much talking amongst the group, but it was a comfortable silence. Tobin and Alex sat so close together on the log that they might as well have been one. Hope and Kelley were the same. Basically all the couples were like that. Abby and her girlfriend Sarah; Ali and Ashlyn; and Lauren and Jrue to name a few.

HAO suddenly clapped her hands together and stood up abruptly.

“Who wants to play games?” she asked.

“I’m down for that,” Syd said, standing up too.

“Contest?”

“What kind?” Hope asked, suddenly interested as well. She placed her Coke down on the ground and placed herself in the center of Heather, Sydney, and Megan.

“Marshmallow eating contest,” Pinoe said with a cheeky grin.

“Bet! Count me in!” Jrue exclaimed.

Tobin’s heart stopped beating and her whole body froze. She couldn’t move or think or do anything. Everything came crashing back into her all at once.

The bet.

The bet that she had completely forgotten about. The bet that said she had to sleep with Alex by the end of the season. The same bet that she had won. The same bet that was the entire reason she was even with Alex in the first place. The bet that would ruin her life.

Tobin didn’t even see Hope come up to her, or Alex’s waving hand directly in front of her face.

“Baby, what’s wrong?” Alex asked worriedly.

“Yo Tobin, you in there?” the tall brunette asked.

It was another thirty seconds before Tobin finally snapped out of her trance.

“Come with me Hope,” she said urgently, standing up and hopping over the log.

“What?” Hope asked confused.

“Get your ass over here and follow me Hope!” she said with even more urgency. Hope and Alex made eye contact, silently asking each other what was going on.

“Where are you going, Toby?”

“We’ll be back soon, Lex, I promise.” The forward was left utterly confused and extremely worried.

Hope had to jog to keep up with Tobin’s speed walking. Tobin hadn’t answered any of her questions. They had been going deeper and deeper into the trees. So deep that light from the bonfire couldn’t even be seen anymore.

“What the hell, Tobin? Explain.”

“The bet.” Hope looked at her like she was stupid.

“Elaborate. ‘The bet’, what does that even mean?”

“The fucking bet Hope! The one you and I made forever ago,” Tobin said frustratedly. She was extremely ashamed of what she had done and she really didn’t want to say the details out loud. That would make her feel worse.

“Tobin. You and I have made thousands of bets. Some have gone unfulfilled, others haven’t. I need you to be very clear, because right now you are scaring the shit out of me,” the taller of the two said.

“The one where I had to sleep with Alex by the end of the soccer season…” Tobin said it barely above a whisper, but Hope heard her loud and clear.

“Holy shit.”

Tobin plopped down onto the cold, wet ground, ignoring the pain that shot through her but when she sat down. She took out her wallet and handed her best friend two one hundred dollar bills.

“Take this. I don’t want to win. I wish we had never done this, and now I just want to forget about it.”

“Dude, you don’t have to do this…”

“A bet is a bet. And I’ve decided that I lost. Take the money. Buy Kelley something nice.”

“If you’re sure.”

“I am.”

Hope knew not to say anything else and honestly she didn’t want to walk about it herself. It was best if they just both forgot about everything and focused on making their girls happy. That was more important.

When they got back, Alex and Kelley were waiting impatiently on the log.

“Is everything okay?” the forward asked, immediately going to her girlfriend’s side.

“Yeah you two had us worried,” Kelley agreed.

“Everything is fine now. We promise. Right Tobin?”

“That’s right,” Tobin smiled. “Its been handled.”

..

Servando was going to invite himself to the private party when he saw Hope and Tobin leave, but something told him to follow them instead. And he was certainly glad he did.

He could finally expose Tobin for what she really was and Alex would be his. He already had a plan forming in his head.

..

“Join me?”

Tobin didn’t have to think twice about stripping all of her clothes off and hopping into the shower with Alex. Within a minute she was standing in front of her girlfriend, the shower head spraying water in her face. She didn’t hesitate to press her lips onto her the forward’s own.

Their kisses were needy and desperate from the start. All night they were with other people so they couldn’t be as intimate as they had wanted, but now it was just the two. Hope went to Kelley’s house so nothing could stop them now.

Alex’s hands were roaming all over Tobin’s body, never finding a place to settle. Tobin, on the other hand, was slowly sliding her hands from the soccer player’s hips to the back of her thighs. Between the hot steamy water pouring sprinkling on them and the natural heat the forward felt when Tobin touched her, it was hard to tell exactly where her hands were. She was too caught up in her lips to focus.

Without warning, Tobin picked Alex up. The forward instinctively wrapped her legs around her girlfriend’s waist. She hissed as the cold shower wall came in contact with her back.

“Sorry,” Tobin said halfheartedly, her lips barely leaving Alex’s so she could speak.

She was just hoping and praying that the bar of soap in the soap tray didn’t fall off and kill the both of them.

Tobin’s lips moved from the forward’s own, down to the girl’s neck. She nipped and sucked teasingly, eliciting a moan from her.

When Alex’s legs got tighter around her waist, she almost lost it.

“Shit Lex,” she cursed.

“Stop teasing.”

“Wait..” Tobin said. The forward looked at her confused. Was it something she said? Tobin’s never had a problem with it before.

“What is it Toby?”

“You know I love you right?”

“Of course I do. And I love you too.”

“Good I just…I need you in my life.”

“I need you too. Now ravish me.”

Tobin chuckled, but did as she was told.

..

Alex and Tobin held hands, walking just behind Hope and Kelley. The second the feisty defender heard about it, she dragged the three of them out there. It had only been a good 45 minutes and they had already visited at least 50 booths. Kelley was bouncing all over the place.

Tobin noticed that Alex kept glancing up at the ferris wheel. She didn’t want to do it, but she had to ask.

“Do you want to go on the ferris wheel?” She saw how the forward’s eyes lit up.

“Can we?”

“Of course Lex, anything for you,” Tobin smiled. _I’m screwed._

“Hey Kell, we’re going on the ferris wheel,” Alex called out to her best friend that was skipping. The defender threw her thump up in the air. Hope, however, turned around gave her friend a knowing look. She smirked, seeing the faintest hint of discomfort on Tobin’s face. She mouthed a ‘good luck’ to her.

Tobin handed two tickets and let Alex pull her to one of the awaiting carriages. When they were strapped in securely, Tobin held Alex’s hand just a little tighter. She felt like she was about to throw up, but she refused to ruin this for her girlfriend. The smile on her face was enough to make her suck it up.

They were about one third of the way up when the sweating started. Alex’s noticed.

“What’s wrong Toby?” Tobin was noticeably pale as well.

“Why would anything be wrong Lex? I’m okay I promise.”

“No you’re not.. Tell me.” Tobin glanced quickly at Alex and saw the concerned look on her face. The last thing she wanted to do was worry her girlfriend. She took a deep breath and sighed.

“I may or may be scared of heights…actually terrified would be a better word,” Tobin said honestly.

“You’re scared of heights? Toby why did you ask me to get on the ferris wheel if you were scared?”

“Because I saw how you really wanted to get on and I thought it wouldn’t be that bad. Boy was I wrong,” she chuckled nervously.

Alex looked at Tobin with a small smile.

“Well we can’t get off now. I guess we’ll have to find something to do until we get back down.”

“Oh yeah? What kind of something?”

“I’m sure we’ll figure it out,” Alex said, leaning in.

Tobin smiled as the forward kissed her. All her troubles and worries were gone and she even forgot where they were for a moment. It wasn’t until they were back at ground level that they pulled apart.

“So ferris wheels?”

“One of my new favorite places,” Tobin smirked.

..

“This game is rigged!” Hope exclaimed as she had missed the stack of three bottles with her third and final baseball. Kelley giggled and tried to sooth her pouting girlfriend.

“Maybe next time,” Tobin chuckled from behind them.

“You think you can do better, Heath?” Hope asked.

“Is that a challenge?”

“You can’t even knock the top one down.” Tobin scoffed.

“I’m going to win you that giant teddy bear up there baby,” she said confidently, pecking her girlfriend’s lips once before walking up to the counter. She handed the man a dollar. In return she was handed three baseballs.

She chunked the first ball as hard as she could and missed all three bottles completely.

“Ooh so close,” Hope commented. Tobin could practically hear the smirk in her voice.

“Shut up.”

The second one, she threw just as hard, but only missed by a little.

“You might have a career in baseball.”

“Can it, Solo.”

Tobin looked at the center of all three bottles. She focused in on one spot and took a deep breath.

She threw the last baseball.

“HELL YEAH! IN YO FACE.” Hope scowled, rolling her eyes and folding her arms.

“Lucky throw.”

“Skill dude,” she smirk. “Yeah I’ll take that giant stuffed bear up there,” she told the man. He grabbed it from the hook and gave it to her wordlessly. Anyone could tell he was annoyed by the teenagers and hated his job, but Tobin could care less at the moment.

She placed it out in front of her, shoving it into her girlfriend’s arm proudly. The forward giggled.

“Thank you Toby,” she said, kissing her girlfriend.


	19. The Fall

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> When everything comes crashing down

**Tobin’s POV:**

You are never fully prepared for when your world comes crashing down.

Even for someone like me who knows all too well about pain and disappointment, I should have seen the storm coming. My own mother threw me out of the house to fend for myself at the ripe young age of sixteen. I knew the signs but I ignored them. I should have been more aware or on guard so that I could have done everything I possibly could have to protect the one thing in my life I hold most dear..

I should have told her the truth from the beginning. I was supposed to protect her. She trusted me with her heart and I ripped it apart. I will never forgive myself for this, but even worse, the only person I ever cared about won’t ever forgive me either.

And how could she? I’m a monster.

As I ran my fingers through my hair, I thought about how it all went wrong. I thought about how I ended up here on the beach with tears streaming down my face and a shattered heart. I thought about how I had only cried this hard one other time in my life. That was when I was kicked out by my parents.

My eyes were running out of tears which is pathetic. I clutched the bottle of Jack Daniels so hard that I thought it would break in my hand. I never brought it up to my lips though. Just couldn’t find the strength. I didn’t have the strength for anything anymore. She was my strength..

And I had lost her.

..

Tobin ran until she felt like her lungs would burst. She had no idea where she was going and didn’t care. The tears blocked her view anyway.. when her lungs could not take anymore she stopped and when she realized where she was she collapsed in a heap and sobbed .. the pain in her chest unbearable… Her mind starts to reel and she remembers….  
  
She remembered the beginning of that day vividly, for how can you forget the day your heart is broken? The funny thing about a broken heart is that it’s not fatal. Though you wish in vain that it were…

~Flashback

The night after the game had been perfect and so had the next few nights after winning Alex the stuffed bear at the carnival. They had made love every night and fell asleep in each other’s arms.. That _morning_ she awoke earlier than usual to find the sun playing on Alex’s beautiful face and in her hair. She was tangled up in everything Alex and all of a sudden it hit her.. right in the chest…the kind of hit that if she was standing would have knocked her to her knees.. She was home… Alex was home.. The tears began to spill and she started to shake.. She held onto Alex tightly and closed her eyes.

She couldn’t lose her. She just couldn’t.

“Toby?” the soccer player asked, feeling the other girl’s movements. She turned herself around in her girlfriend’s arms and saw the tears falling down her face. On instinct, she brought her hand up and wiped them away. “What’s wrong baby?”

“I’m scared of losing you Lex…I need you in my life.” The brunette frowned, wondering where all of this was coming from.

“You’re not going to lose me I promise.”

“Yes I am…yes I am.”

“Tobin Powell Heath, you stop talking like this right now,” Alex demanded. Tobin closed her mouth, but the tears still fell freely down her cheeks. The soccer player reached up to run her thumb over her face, wiping away the tears. “Don’t you love me?”

“More than anything,” the light-haired girl replied immediately.

“Then no more talk about losing anything. I’m here to stay okay? You don’t have to be worried or scared. I’m yours Toby.” Alex leaned forward and kissed her girlfriend’s lips.

“I love you Lex.”

“I know Toby.” She really did know too. Tobin looked at her like she was the only person in the world. She approached Alex differently than she approached everyone else.. She was gentle and she tried so hard to be good. She changed her whole life around for her. It made the soccer player’s heart soar. “I love you too.”

..

After a rather long breakfast, Alex finally managed to drag Tobin out of their apartment. The light-haired girl was intent on skipping school but the soccer player wouldn’t have it. They both needed to be in school now more than ever and Alex had soccer to worry about and focus on as well. Their days of player hooky were over. Soon they’d be out of school and preparing for college anyway.

Unknown to the two lovebirds, they had an audience as they rushed into the school barely making it inside before the bell. Servando watched the two, smirking to himself as he pictured the future events that were to happen later on that day.

Yeah they were all happy and lovely dovey now, but if he had any say in it, which he did, Tobin Heath would go down at his hands.

..

Paul felt his body jerk and his back hit the cold hard lockers. Two sets of hands held onto his biceps and lifted him off the ground. The force was so strong it knocked his glasses off so vision was blurry but he could clearly tell that Servando and his two goons were the cause of everything.

“You’re just who I wanted to see.” Paul replied with nothing. “Did you do what I told you?”

“Tell your boys to let go of me first.” He wasn’t expecting them to literally drop him. He didn’t have enough time to realize what was going on to catch himself and he ended up landing on his glasses. His mother was going to be mad about this one. It’s his second pair of bifocals that he has gone through this year. Paul picked up the glasses, folded them, and put them in his shirt pocket.

“Where’s my tape?” He hesitated.

“I’m not so sure this was a good idea. Why did you have me make this?”

“Didn’t you hear the recording?” Paul nodded. He had to listen to it, and multiple times at this, to do the trimming and pasting that he was forced to do. “Don’t you think Alex deserves to know the truth?” Yes he did. He heard Tobin and Hope talking about the bet they made to see if Tobin could sleep with Alex before the end of the soccer season. He was disgusted and didn’t expect anything less from the badass, but he had also heard the statements that followed. She had regretted making the bet and Paul could definitely hear the sincerity in her voice.

Was Tobin a changed girl? She seemed like it. She had even paid Hope because she didn’t want to win.

“Tobin is a bad person Paulie. She’s bad for Alex. People like her don’t deserve people like people like Alex. Don’t you remember when she knocked you down in the hall and everyone laughed at you?” Of course he did. “And she never apologized did she?”

“No…”

“Do you know how many people Tobin has hurt? How many hearts she has broken? Do you want the same to happen to Alex?”

“No I don’t.” He didn’t want anything to happen to Alex. She was his saving grace…at least from bullies like Tobin. Or what Tobin used to be.

“Tobin Heath will pay for all the trouble she has caused. I’m going to destroy her,” Servando smirked. The sinister look on his face worried Paul. “Don’t you want her brought down too?”

“Well..” He just wanted to stop being bullied and that happened when Tobin and Alex started dating.

“Has Tobin Heath hurt you, yes or no?”

“Yeah but maybe she isn’t as bad anymore as you think? You heard her, she righted the wrong she and Hope made. I think that-”

Servando grabbed a fist full of his shirt, pushing him back into the lockers.

“Listen here geek. I didn’t ask you what you thought. Don’t you want her to get her fair share of karma?”

“I’m just saying that maybe she’s changed,” he rushed out.

“People like her don’t change!” Servando seethed in his face. Paul gulped, immediately wishing that he hadn’t opened his mouth. “Alex did you a favor by helping you up, now you need to return it. Give me the fucking tape, or I’ll have to take it from you,” the jock threatened.

Paul nodded furiously and reached into his bag, pulling out the tape labeled ‘Edit’. Servando snatched it from his hands and smacked his forehead with it. The younger and smaller boy flinched.

“Thanks kid. You’re doing the right thing.”

With that being said, Servando and his crew walked away. Paul frowned to himself and reached into his bag a second time. He pulled out the original tape that he was given. He had a feeling he would be needing it later.

..

Tobin watched Alex from afar as she rummaged through her locker to switch out binders and books. She admired the way her hair went down her back in soft waves, the way the black shirt hugged her waist ever so tightly, and she admired how the skirt her girlfriend wore didn’t cover much at all and exposed her wonderful legs.

She slowly walked up behind her and wrapped her hands around her waist.

“Give me all of your lunch money,” she said in a low voice in her girlfriend’s ear. The brunette chuckled and turned herself around in her arms, much like she had earlier that morning.

“Hey stud,” Alex greeted. Tobin greeted her back by kissing her lips. “You weren’t there when I got out of class,” the soccer player pouted.

“I’m sorry baby, my teacher held us a little after the bell and when I got to your class you were already gone so I met you here,” she explained, kissing her girlfriend’s lips again. God she loved those lips.

“Yeah well now you’re going to have to make it up to me,” Alex said, wrapping her arms around Tobin’s neck. She brought her face down to hers.

“Make it up to you how?” The soccer player could see the other girl’s eyes darkening. She loved the control that she had over her girlfriend and she really loved the way Tobin pulled her closer. The girl was so possessive of her. There was never a time when she didn’t feel wanted.

Alex brought her lips up to her girlfriend’s ear, smirking when she heard her breath hitch.

“I’m thinking you…and me…and a bottle of whipped cream. Tonight.” With each word she placed a kiss behind her ear.

“Yeah?”

“Mhm…”

“I don’t think I can wait til tonight, we need to go now.” Without warning Tobin picked Alex up and threw her over her shoulder. The soccer player squeals as she didn’t expect to be lifted off of her feet.

“Toby we can’t leave school!”

“Yes we can.”

“Wow Tobin,” they hear a voice say smugly. “I knew Alex had you wrapped around her finger, but I didn’t realize she had you this whipped and could seduce you so easily.” Tobin watched as Sydney, Ashlyn and Ali walked up to them.

“Shut up Syd,” Alex told her. “And Toby put me down already.” Groaning loudly, Tobin did as she was told.

“Why do you sound so surprised Leroux?” Hope asked as she and Kelley joined the group. “Tobs has got a one-track mind and as long as you promise her sex, she’s yours,” the tall girl laughed. Tobin squinted her eyes at her best friend.

“Don’t be hypocrite Hope, like you wouldn’t do the same?” The girl shrugged.

“Hypocrite…that’s a big word for you dude.”

“Asshole.” Alex silently laughed to herself as Tobin and Hope had a staring contest. They were so funny to her. Their witty comments towards each other kept her entertained for sure. “I ought to throw Lex’s books at you.”

“Toby,” the forward scolded.

“Do that and you’ll be drinking your food through a straw for a month.”

“Hope that’s enough,” the freckled defender said as she smacked her girlfriend’s arm.

“She started it,” the green-eyed girl mumbled.

“I didn’t start it she did!”

“Hey,” Alex cut in, her hand cupping Tobin’s face to get her attention. “Walk me to class?” The light-haired girl nodded, forgetting why she was even mildly riled up a second ago.

“Yeah I better get going too. I’ve got Franklin next and she’s been a real bitch since she had her baby.”

“I heard that,” Ashlyn second, with Ali nodding in agreement underneath her arm. “She’s got a stick up her as too I think. No one can be _that_ cranky…”

..

Servando watched the group that always had the attention of everyone in the school. He watched the way Tobin possessively held onto Alex. The way the forward smiled at that scum of the Earth. Alex truly did not know what she was missing out on. He would show her. Soon enough she would see…

As the ‘it’ couple walked in his direction, he stared Tobin down. She felt his eyes on him and gave him the evil eye right back.

“Hey Alex,” he greeted her. She smiled at him. “Heath.”

“Fuck off Carrasco.” Servando smirked at her.

“Just trying to be… _friendly._ ” He knew she didn’t believe him. “I wonder what’s for lunch today?” he asked out loud. “I can’t _wait_ to see what’s in store for us.” Tobin held her cold gaze on him.

“Read my lips dude. Fuck..off.” Servando held his hands up in surrender. He his eyes were mocking Tobin and out of his peripheral, he saw Alex pulled closer to the other girl.

“Have a nice day ladies.” It was tiny but he saw the hint of discomfort in the badass’ eyes. “See you soon.” Tobin didn’t humor him with a response. Instead she pretended to ignore and held on to Alex tightly.

..

Tobin sat in her second period class with a frown on her the entire time. She was still pissed off about Servando coming up to her and Alex in the hallway. Who did he think he was? Did she need to kick his ass again for him to get the picture?

Ugh and the look on his face. Like he knew something that she didn’t. It irked her. She didn’t like it one bit and now she had the worst feeling in her stomach. What was he trying to tell her?

**T: I hate Servando Carrasco I really do. Can you stay away from him please? Until I feel better about at least?**

**A: Of course, but you have nothing to worry about Toby. He’s not going to do anything.** Tobin wasn’t so sure.

**T: He’s up to something I can feel it. I won’t let him hurt you Lex, I promise. I’ll figure out what he’s up to and I’ll take care of it.**

**A: You won’t do anything Tobin.** Uh oh. Even in text, she knew that wasn’t a good tone. **You promised no more heroics. Don’t worry about him okay?** Tobin was reluctant to reply but she finally conceded.

**T: Fine but I still don’t trust him.**

**A: I know. But remember he doesn’t get to do what we are going to do tonight**. And just like that Tobin forgot all about Servando because she was too busy thinking about Alex covered in whipped cream.

 **T: Damn right he doesn’t** Okay so she may be sporting a goofy smirk on her face now. **Maybe I can get a little preview?**

 **A: Maybe fourth period ;)** She was counting on that.

“Ms Heath!” her teacher exclaimed. Tobin’s head pops up from looking at the phone in her lap.

“Yes ma’am?” Why do people always insist on interrupting her time with Alex.

“Perhaps you can stop sexting your girlfriend long enough to pay attention to the lesson?” The classroom erupts in snickers and laughs, but it doesn’t phase Tobin.

“Actually we hadn’t even gotten that far yet. Am I allowed to continue? I promise I’ll let you know when we get there,” she smirked.

“No you may not. Put your phone up, or it comes up here and stays on my desk.” Her teacher didn’t look as amused as her classmates were.

“Okay fine. No need to get your undies in a bunch.”

“Let me remind you Ms. Heath that I have the power to keep you from graduating.” Actually she didn’t. Tobin had such an amazing turn around in grades and behavior that would walk across the stage no matter what happened now. It was already discussed with her counselor and principal.

**T: Hey baby I have to pay attention now. Mrs. Female Mustache is threatening to take my phone :/**

**A: Oh okay. And that’s not nice Toby. Don’t get in trouble. I’ll see you in a bit.**

**T: What its true.. I won’t get in trouble no worries. I love you**

**A: I love you too**

..

Tobin couldn’t have been happier when fourth period came along. They didn’t even do much in class. Some book work, and then they broke off into groups for ten minutes. That left them a good fifteen minutes to themselves and Tobin spent hers draping herself all over Alex. The other students in the room had to learn to ignore them. As long as they talked amongst themselves, no one could even really hear them. If anyone even thought about saying something, the school’s ‘badass’ would be on their asses.

Kelley was the best at ignoring them. She was mainly too absorbed in texting Hope to care anyway. And their teacher? Well she had given up. There was no point. The two were inseparable.

“So about that preview?” Tobin asked as she looked up at Alex who was straddling her.

“Is this short skirt I wore just for you not enough?”

“Actually on my side of things, I’d say its too much.” Since her girlfriend was facing her in her lap, it was much easier to slide her hand up the forward’s skirt unnoticed. Tobin smirked when she saw Alex close her eyes briefly.

“Be careful Toby, or else you’re going to get us started in something you can’t finish.”

“Oh I could finish alright, but taking you right now wouldn’t be such a good idea because you wouldn’t be able to keep quiet.” Alex’s jaw dropped.

“How dare you say that?” she gasped. Tobin held in her laugh as the soccer player attempted to swat at her.

“What? You know it’s true. Lex have you heard yourself during sex? You’re a screamer baby.”

“You better watch yourself Toby or you won’t be having sex for along time.” No sex? Tobin would have to pass on that one. She knew Alex wasn’t mad at her because she used her nickname, but still. Just to be on the safe side…

“I’m sorry,” she apologized quickly.

“You better be…”

“I am. Kiss and make up?” The light-haired girl tried.

“Nope, you’re not getting anything until lunch. That’s ten minutes for you to think about what you’ve done.” Tobin groaned loudly. Ten minutes might as well have been ten years.

..

“Is everything set up?” Servando asked again. “Are you sure everything is working properly. You’ve checked the tape?”

“God man for the billionth time yes. Everything is set up and working fine. You give us the word and all we have to do is hit a button,” his friend answered.

“Good. Fifteen minutes into lunch, I’m going to go up to them. Right before that I’m going to send you guys the go ahead and you wait exactly one minute, got it?”

“We know the fucking plan okay? But you should really think twice about this.”

“Yeah man if two people are happy together you shouldn’t fuck with them.”

Servando looked at his two friends with a crazed look in his eye. The two guys looked at each other with worried expressions. They didn’t know the exact moment that

“She stole my girl. I’m getting her back.”

..

Tobin slugged Hope in her arm as she had cracked yet another joke on her. Their table erupted in laughter, even Alex. She pouted. Since when did she become the punchline of all the jokes.

“Yeah yeah laugh it up guys,” she said.

“Aw Toby you’re cute when you’re embarrassed…” Alex cooed

“I’m not embarrassed,” she mumbled. “And I’m not cute Lex, I’m sexy, we’ve been over this.”

“ _Aww Toby,_ ” a deep voice mocked. A scowl immediately donned Tobin’s face. She stood up and went over to him, not standing more than a foot from the boy.

“What the fuck is your problem dude? Do I need to kick your ass again so you can learn to stay out of the picture?”

“I’m not here for you Heath, I’m here to talk to Alex,” he said.

“No.” Servando tried to step around her, but she quickly blocked his path. “I said no.”

“It’s okay Toby, all he’s doing is talking.” Tobin didn’t move.

“It’s okay Alex, we’ll have it _Toby’s_ way.” Tobin didn’t like the look he was giving her. And if he called her the nickname that Alex had given her one more time, she would kick him in his throat. She watched as he knocked a student’s food to the ground and stood on top of the table where the tray once was.

Tobin’s heart picked up and she had no idea why.

“Can I have everyone’s attention please?” Servando asked the student body. Except everyone’s attention was already on them.

He fucking _winked_ at her. Oh her blood was boiling.

“I know you all believe that Miss Badass over here has come over ‘light side’, but I am here to tell you all that she is a lie. She is the same person she was three months ago.” He laughed to himself as he heard murmured across the cafe. “Raise your hand if you’ve had your heart broken by Tobin Heath. If she just fucked you and then left.” Numerous hands from the female population went up.

Tobin cringed. More than half of the girls had their hands raised… But that was the old her. She was different.

“She’s not like that anymore and everyone knows it,” Hope called out. “Get your ass down from the table and quit embarrassing yourself.”

“Tobin hasn’t been completely honest with Alex, have you _Toby_? I _bet_ she would love to know what you’ve been keeping from her.” Her eyes widened. _Oh no_. How did he even know?

“What is he talking about Tobin?” Alex asked her.

As if on cue, a recording played over the intercom.

“ _The bet Hope. The one you and I made. The one where I had to sleep with Alex by the end of the soccer season. I wish we had done this forever go. Now I just want the money. I win.”_ What? No. That’s not how the conversation went at all. The bastard must have moved the words around.

“ _Dude you have to take this_.” The last two words weren’t even Hope’s. There was shuffling of paper in the background and one could only assume it was money.

“ _I’ve decided to buy something nice.”_ No. No. This can’t be happening.

Tobin turned around and saw the devastation in Alex’s features. No. She never wanted this.

“Lex I…” She didn’t know what to say. All she knew was that her heart was shattering watching the only person she loved break down in tears. “That wasn’t what happened..” The evident hurt in those blue orbs that she loved so much. The tears rushing down her cheeks. The way her body trembled. It was all because of her. It might as well have been a slap to the face with a jackhammer.

She tried to step towards the girl, but she backed away from her into the arms of Lauren who looked at her with cold eyes.

“What did I tell you guys? She’s an evil bitch and a heartbreaker and that’s all she ever will be.” It was all too much. The triumphant grin on Servando’s face. The broken Alex in front of her. “She never loved you. She only wanted to sleep with you so she could get paid.”

“That’s not true Lex. It was just a bet a first I’ll admit that, but then…then something happened and I stopped caring about myself and all I cared about was you and I fell in love with you. And I completely forgot about the bet and it was too late. But I-”

“Save it Tobin!” It was Lauren and she was beyond pissed. “Come on Alex, let’s get out of here.” The forward was still sobbing but managed to nod. Her own legs weren’t even supporting her, it was Cheney and Sydney who were practically carrying her.

“I really did change!” Yelling after them was useless. “I’m sorry…” The words were almost inaudible.

Tobin dropped to her knees. What had she done?

..

“You were a part of this?” Kelley asked Hope. The tall dark-haired girl said nothing. She couldn’t even look at Kelley. What else could she say? The truth was out and her and Tobin were made to look like animals…and maybe they were.

The hand to her cheek didn’t even surprised her. To be honest, she thought she deserved a lot worse than a slap to the face.

She watched as Tobin was knocked off of her knees and onto her ass by Ashlyn.

“I can’t believe I actually thought you two were cool,” she seethed. “You’re damn good actresses thats for fucking sure.” The blonde’s attention was now on Hope. “If I ever catch you two trying to come close to Alex and Kelley again, I’ll rip your fucking throats out.”

The two responded with nothing.

..

The entire school gave them looks of disgust. Harsh words were spat at them and they were even thrown into lockers a few times. What the world around them didn’t know was that no one could make them feel worse than they already did.

Tobin never saw Hope again after 12:30. She herself decided it was time for her to leave about an hour later.

When she got to her motorcycle, her heart broke even more if that were possible. Dangling on her clutch was the necklace she had given Alex. She held it in her hands and stared hard at the jewelry. It was like Alex was giving her heart back.

She was so angry. At herself, at Servando, at Hope… But she had brought this all on herself.

Tobin clutched the necklace tight in her hand before placing it in the pocket of her jeans.

“Aww I think she’s about to cry.” She growled. It was him again.

Tobin ran up to him at lightning speed and grabbed him by his collar.

“You think you won? Is that it? You think that because you told the entire school about the bet that she’s going to go crawling to you now?! Newsflash asshole, you looked just as much like a monster back there as you made us look. You haven’t won anything.”

“Just watch Heath. She’ll be mine.” She scoffed.

“You’re pathetic…” Tobin wanted so badly to knock him out. _You promised not to fight_. “Pathetic,” she spat.


	20. Sorry

Tobin woke up with a horrible sunburn and a raven picking at her jeans. She realized what was going on and quickly swatted at it. Apparently she had passed out in the park.. The place where she let down all of her walls.. Where she confessed everything to Alex… Alex. How she missed her so.

It hurt to move her body and her eyes burned from all the crying and the brightness of the sun. She had no idea what time it was, but she was certain that she was missing school right now. Wait no…what day was it? It was hard for her to keep track of anything since recent events. Tobin hadn’t seen Hope in she didn’t know how long…a few days, had it been a full week? She had been by their apartment for sure, but they hadn’t crossed paths.

Kelley and Alex had been there too.

Or maybe it was just Kelley. Hell she guessed it could have been anyone on the soccer team. Kelley had a key and could have given it to any of them so she wouldn’t have to run into her or Hope. When Tobin walked in the apartment all of Alex’s things were gone. Not a single tangible trace of the soccer player could be found.

But Tobin saw traces of Alex everywhere she looked. She pictured Alex in every single corner of the apartment. All she could see was Alex in the kitchen cooking.. Alex sitting at the tiny dining table.. Alex laughing in amusement in the middle of their bedroom.. And the bed, well she couldn’t even look at that. Too many memories of she and Alex making love would pop into her head.

Sighing to herself, she got up off her ass and looked around. She saw the sandpit, a lone basketball goal with a broken net, the swing sets..

“I was wondering when you were going to wake up.” The voice made her jump.

“Carl,” she said with no emotion.

“Heath.”

“What do you want man?”

“Shouldn’t you be in school?” he asked. “Better yet, have you been drinking?”

“No I haven’t.” She picked up the bottle of Jack Daniels and handed it to him. “And I’m on my way right now, so if that’s all you needed, then I’m going to go home to shower and change.”

Carl looked at her skeptically. He was driving in his squad car when he noticed a body laying on the ground. Thinking the worst, he quickly ran over to the body only to discover that it was Tobin Heath. He had seen the bottle of beer beside her and could only assume that she had been drinking.

She had been in the shadows for weeks now and he was starting to wonder what was going on with her. But there was something about finally seeing her after all this time. She looked different. Her demeanor was different.

“What’s been going on with you Heath?” She looked at him with tired eyes.

“You know Carl, I’m just not the same person I used to be. I’ve changed believe it or not. I can assure you that you won’t be hearing about me ever again.”

“Just like that? You just changed?” he asked.

“It didn’t happen over night. But you know what they say.. Once you meet the right person, you change and its always for the better.”

“It’s one of those girls isn’t it? The ones you were leaving the game with.” She nodded.

“Look man, my skin hurts, my head hurts, my eyes hurt, my heart hurts and I’ve already missed some of school. I’ve got to get going.”

“I’ll give you a ride.” She gave him a look, but nodded anyway. She had ran all the way over here, and the walk back to her place wouldn’t be a short one.

“Thanks.”

..

Tobin pulled into parking spot furthest from the school on her motorcycle. Moments after, Hope’s jeep pulled in right beside her. They made eye contact, silently speaking to each other. They were both tired, they were both lost and lonely, they both regretted so many things that they couldn’t even name.

The tall, dark-haired girl cracked a smile in the shorter girl’s direction. Tobin returned it, placing her helmet on her handlebar as she did so. Hope stepped out of her jeep with a sad sigh. She and her best friend were now standing face to face.

“I’m sorry,” they said at the same time.

“I should have never suggested betting on whether you could sleep with Alex. It was wrong and immature.”

“I shouldn’t have accepted it.”

“We were both dumb.”

“Yeah,” Tobin huffed out a dry chuckle. “We were.”

“I haven’t seen you much,” Hope said. “I trust you haven’t done anything stupid. Besides spend the night outside and get burned that is.” There was a hint of a smirk on her face.

“I could say the same for you.. Except for the looking like a tomato part.”

Tobin missed Hope and joking around with her. Sure she wanted to be alone a lot and away from anyone else. but if there was any two people that could help them get through this, it would be each other.

“I’ve been everywhere I guess. I stopped by Uncle Phil’s…he wants to see you by the way. I went by my house. Apparently Gerry is in prison now and Marcus is back at home too. No one thought to tell me, but it’s whatever I guess.” Tobin frowned but nodded.

“I’m sorry.”

“Don’t be. What about you?” The light-haired girl shrugged.

“At the apartment, the beach, the park.. I haven’t found the courage to call my sisters. Just been wallowing in self-pity..the usual.”

They walked in silence to the main building after that, preparing to go to their separate classes. In a week, the looks they received from people hadn’t changed and they didn’t except that they would. Pure disgust and slandering words. Tobin even had a pencil thrown at her. And how did she react?

She didn’t. She took it all, not uttering a word back, not doing anything to get anyone back.

Tobin saw Lauren and Ashlyn, along with Ali and Sydney and all four of glared at her. She tried to ignore them, but she felt the holes burning away at her skin. Or maybe it was the sunburn getting to her. She would have to face them at some point, because getting Alex back would require going through them first, but she was nowhere near that point.

She was the last person to walk into fourth period so all eyes were on her when she walked in. Thank goodness her chair was in the back so she wouldn’t have to feel the eyes of everyone on her. Tobin tried to make eye contact with Alex, but the girl refused to look at her. She ended up catching the eye of Kelley, whose cold stare was enough to make her accidentally walk into a desk.

What no one seemed to understand that she was hurting too.

..

“Alex!” The soccer player stopped dead in her tracks. She closed her eyes, wishing that she didn’t have to deal with him. “Alex, hey how are you?” The nerve he had to think it was okay to come up to her after everything he had caused last week.

“I’m fine, and I’m going to be late to class,” she answered shortly.

“Okay I’ll walk you,” he smiled. “So I was wondering if you wanted to go out sometime? I know Tobin hurt you, but I want to help you get through it. Whatever you need, you just let me know.”

“Do you think I’m stupid, Servando? Do you think its okay to just come up to me after what you did last week?”

“What do you mean?”

“You humiliated me in front of everyone. Did you seriously think that because you called Tobin out that I would just go out with you now?”

“She never deserved you anyway Alex. I tried to show you that! I helped you out!”

“You helped me?”

“Yeah I did! And the least you could do is be grateful. I saved you. Do you know how hard I worked to be with you?”

“Well I hate to break it to you, but I your hard work was for nothing. You’re a liar and I want you to leave me alone.” Servando was about to reach towards Alex to grab her, but Tobin came out of nowhere and grabbed him before he could touch her.

She held him by the front of his shirt, looking him dead in the eye. Her face said it all.

“You heard what she said. Leave her alone.”

No. Alex couldn’t deal with the both of them at the same time. There was a reason she had been avoiding them. They hurt her. She cried herself to sleep every night in Kelley’s arms because of them. Tobin because she had broken her heart, Servando he had brought her down to the lowest possible level in front of everyone.

“I may have lost her, but you’ll still have to go through my dead body before I let you put your hands on her,” the light-haired girl said in a low voice. Alex still heard it. She forced herself not to listen anymore. She needed to forget about Tobin, not be touched by the gesture.

Before she could even think more about the situation, Lauren pulled her away from the two. Alex gave her an appreciated look.

She and Tobin made eye contact and time seemed to freeze. The girl was pleading so many things to her with her eyes.

“Lex I-” Abby and Ashlyn were standing in front of her before she could finish her sentence.

“I think you should leave Tobin. We’ve got this.” Tobin scoffed at the two girls.

“I was protecting her.”

“She doesn’t need your protection anymore. Being near you only makes things worse for her.” Tobin looked at Alex who was watching them. She waited for the forward to tell them that it was alright, that they didn’t need to be so harsh towards her.

The brunette only looked in the other direction. She watched as Lauren dragged Alex away.

Tobin sighed. Abby and Ashlyn still stood in front of her with their arms folded. Servando was long forgotten and probably ran away like the coward he was.

“Alright,” she surrendered. It broke her heart that Alex wouldn’t talk to her. It only broke her down even more, but she didn’t want to push her.

“She doesn’t need you or want to see you,” Ashlyn said as she pushed Tobin’s shoulder. The light-haired girl growled, but did nothing.

“I heard you the first time Harris,” she said. “And quit pushing me. I get it okay.”

“Good.”

Minutes pass and Tobin is left being the only person in the hallway. She punches the locker to her side but instantly regrets it.

“Dammit!”

She was angry and hurting and so many other things and all she really wanted was Alex to make her feel better, but she had lost her. And now she was lost and spiraling.

God why did she have to be so stupid?

..

She won’t let breaking up with Tobin effect her playing on the soccer field. In fact, if anything she was playing better than she had before. Her touches were on point, every header sent the ball directly to the back of the net, and every ball that came off of either foot was a rocket.

“Nicely done, Alex!” her coach hollered at her.

“Yeah maybe you need to get your heart broken more often,” Heather said. The entire team glared at her. Lauren threw a soccer ball at her head. “What?”

“Too soon,” Christen mouthed.

“I’m sorry,” the winger quickly apologized.

“Don’t even worry about it,” Alex said with a plain tone.

Soccer was the only thing that kept Tobin off of her mind. Since she didn’t have to worry about coming home to her father anymore, she stayed on the fields until she was forced to leave. It temporarily stopped the pain.

Alex was staying with Kelley and her family. She worried that she would be a burden, but the O'Hara’s had assured her that she was already like family to them. They had plenty of room and the forward didn’t have much with her anyway. Only the things her teammate’s grabbed for her.

“Thank you again for letting me stay with you all. I promise I’ll help clean and whenever you want me out of the house, I’ll go visit my mother,” she told them at the dinner table.

“Nonsense Alex, we don’t mind you staying here at all. If you need anything at all, don’t be scared to ask any one of us,” Dan assured her. She smiled thankfully at him.

..

Hope sat next to Tobin at the bar of Uncle Phil’s. The two had decided to come pay the man that was like a father figure to both of them a visit. He’d been wanting to see the two girls together for a while now, and since neither one of them ever did anything 7th period besides watch the two girls they were in love with practice, they left school early.

“Another root beer and I might have to cut you off Tobin,” the bartender, Aaron, joked.

“Nah keep'em comin’, I’m paying good money for these drinks,” she joked back. It was something about the place that made her relax a little. She realized it was something that she hadn’t done in a while..relax.

“I don’t believe you’re paying at all. You two are lucky everything is always on the house for you.”

“Well of course it is,” came Uncle Phil’s booming voice from behind them. “I have to make sure my girls are taken care of.”

“Hey Uncle P,” the girls said at the same time. He greeted them back by pulling each under one of his arms. They let themselves be lead in silence to wherever he was going to take them. His office in towards the back of the arcade more than likely. A lecture was coming for sure.

“Tobin why haven’t you come in to see me?” The girl shrugged sheepishly. “Well that is absolutely unacceptable. You’ve got to do better,” he said. She nodded.

Soon they were in his square, dimly lit office that had giant bean bag chairs for seats. The two best friends each sat in one as Uncle Phil made his way around his desk.

“So Hope told me what happened,” he started. “I must say I’m a bit disappointed in you two.” The girls looked down. “But I know how you two can be. You’re both competitive, especially against each other. I’m not going to sit here and tell you what you did was wrong, because you already know that and you’re both paying the consequences for it now.

“Love is a strange thing ladies, and it isn’t something to joke around with. You’re both in love with your girls; I can see it in your eyes. I knew before either of you did, that you were falling and you were falling fast. There are no boundaries or limits for love. There is no time frame for it when its real. If it is real love, no matter how hard you try, you’ll always love that person. Love is patient and it is kind and it is the only thing that can cut through space or time.

“Being in love with someone is the best feeling out there isn’t it?” The two girls nodded. It was the greatest. “Being loved by someone gives you strength and loving someone gives you courage. My wife, Anna, I would not have strength or courage without her.

“It’s scary too. To need and love someone so much. But you must know the difference. You don’t love because you need, but you need because you love. Being in love well…when you’re in love with someone, everything you do, think, and feel has everything to do with that person. You do everything you can to make them smile, even if it’s out of your comfort zone.” Tobin thought back to when she was on the Ferris wheel with Alex. “Your every thought is consumed by a single name. And you could go your whole life without hearing any other name but that one. Before you fall, it’s like you’ve been looking through broken and dirty glasses. And once you’ve fallen, you’ve thrown away the glasses for contacts. You see clearly. The grass is greener, the sky is bluer, the birds sings a happier song. And you’re home. You’re finally home. Because they are your home. They’re all you’ll ever need.

“How do you know all of this stuff?”

“Hope, you don’t get this old by not knowing anything,” he chuckled.

“What do we do?” Tobin asked. She needed to get Alex back. She didn’t want to live in a world without her.

“You never give up on the one that you love. You fight and you keep fighting. Love says ‘Come what may.’ People may try to get in the way, distance can become your worst enemy, misunderstandings happen.. But you fight. Be honest, don’t give up, and do whatever you can to right the wrong. You make things right, or you die trying.”

Tobin and Hope felt like they had just drank a gallon of red bull. They felt so inspired and energized and were eager to make things right. They didn’t know how they would do it, but they would find a way.

“You only have regrets when you don’t try. Remember that. Actions speak louder than words. Love only rewards, it does not punish. If she loves you and you’re certain that she does, you’ll get her back because just like love keeps you from giving up, it’ll keep her from being away from you for too long.”

..

“Where do we even start?”

“I have no idea,” Hope sighed. Getting their girls back was easier said than done. They had been sitting for ten whole minutes trying to concoct a plan on a notepad, but had yet to write down anything.

“Uncle Phil said be honest. So they need to know the truth. Servando made us look like assholes by fucking up our convo. And we were for even making the bet, but we were only trying to end it.”

“Okay yeah that’s good,” the taller girl nodded. “Step one: tell them the truth. What’s next?” That was a good question. That had a start, but not much else. What else could they possibly say? They wished it was that simple. To tell them what really happened and everything would be better, but they’d be stupid to believe that.

Knowing what actually happened wouldn’t take the hurt away from Alex and Kelley. They felt betrayed either way. And it was how they felt that mattered. Words won’t always change feelings. Actions might, but they didn’t know what actions that might be. All they knew was that things like this couldn’t be forgiven so easily.

..

Getting to Alex and Kelley was impossible. Ashlyn and Abby had named themselves their unofficial body guards. And Lauren Cheney..she gave them an earful every time came near. Tobin wasn’t so sure how good of an idea taking everything that everyone threw at them was. She wouldn’t fight. She promised Alex that. But she was really tired of Ashlyn Harris knocking her on her ass. The forward had told her many times that restraint wasn’t weakness, but it sure as hell felt like it.

“We just want to tell them the truth! That’s all,” Tobin said.

“The truth? Yeah right, you don’t know the meaning of the word. No one can believe anything that comes out of your pathetic mouths.”

“Didn’t we tell you to stay away from them. We have playoffs and state finals to worry about. They don’t need the school’s two biggest assholes ruining their focus.”

“Ash, Abby, take it easy,” Ali said, trying to calm them down.

“We just want them to know that we hate ourselves for ever making the bet.”

“As you should,” the blonde goalkeeper scoffed.

“It was wrong. And we were both wrong. I shouldn’t have even suggested it to Tobin when I know how competitive she is among many other things.”

“A whore? A player? Are those the words you’re looking for?” Abby asked. The two girls chose to ignore their interruptions. Stay calm Tobin had to remind herself.

“Lex-”

“You lost the privilege of calling me that Tobin.” It was the first words Alex had spoken to her in over a week. The forward turned away from her. Tobin guessed she would have to speak to her back them.

“Alex,” she corrected herself. It hurt that the girl didn’t ant her using that name anymore, but she had to play by her rules. It was Alex’s feelings, not hers. “Every moment I spent with you was a new favorite memory for me. Being with you stopped being about the bet a long time ago. That weekend at my sister’s place was real. And when the time came, I didn’t have sex with you, I made love to you. Our first time together was real. That night on the beach was real. All of it was real, it was never about the bet. The night of the bonfire when I realized….I-” She didn’t know how to put her words. “I lost. I paid Hope the money because I didn’t want to win. I just want you to know that. And I’m sorry.”

“Servando changed our words around somehow,” the tall brunette added. Lauren scoffed loudly.

A silence passed between all of them and Tobin waited anxiously for something. She couldn’t see her face, but she could see Alex’s mind reeling. She was desperately hoping that the girl believed her because it was the truth.

After moments more, Abby thought it was her duty to speak up.

“Your time is up and we have to get going.”

Their girls didn’t even look back at them. Not even an over the shoulder glance. Tobin sighed in temporary defeat and Hope cursed under her breath.

“Hey its okay,” Hope said to Tobin. “We lost the battle but not the war right? We just have to keep trying.” Tobin nodded. She was right.

“Yeah I guess.” That didn’t mean she wasn’t disappointed though.

Unknown to the two girls or anyone else that was in the hallway, Paul had seen the whole thing. He knew what he had to do. Thank goodness he kept the original version of the recorded conversation. If got his ass kicked in by Servando for telling the truth then so be it.

He could see that both Alex and Tobin, and Kelley and Hope for that matter, were miserable. They loved each other. Anyone could see it, even if they were too busy being caught up in relationships and business that wasn’t their own.

..

“Alex!” a voice called after as she was on her way to her car. She groaned loudly. She just wanted one moment in peace, was that too much to ask for?

It was a scrawny boy. She recognized him. It was the boy she helped up when Tobin knocked him down.

“Um hi,” he said awkwardly. She gave him a small, short smile. She wondered what he wanted. Alex was tired, her feet were hurting from the burning turf they were forced to play on, and she just wanted to get to the O'Hara’s so she could shower.

“Can I help you…” she let her sentence hang, hoping he would fill in his name.

“Paul, my name is Paul. You um, you helped me up one time when um-”

“I remember.” She wasn’t trying to be rude by cutting him off, she was just exhausted.

“Right well um…” he handed her a tape. She looked at him curiously, wanting an explanation. “Servando made me do a favor for him. He said to edit the conversation Tobin and Hope had in the woods. An-and he said you did me a favor that one time, so I should return it and that breaking you and Tobin up would be what was best for you. I’m sorry I had no what he was going to that, and I wish I never helped him. I should have just taken the beating,” the small boy said shaking his head. “He convinced me that I was helping you.”

“You edited their conversation?” she asked incredulously. He nodded, shame evident on his facial features.

“What I gave you is the original conversation. I just thought you should have it.”

Alex looked down at the time in her hand, labeled 'Original’. We Tobin and Hope telling the truth earlier, or would the tape reveal a different truth? She was so conflicted. Maybe she didn’t want to know the truth? Maybe it was better that she and Tobin weren’t together…

“Thank you, Paul.”

She prayed to God she would not regret listen to this tape. She couldn’t handle many more disappointments.

..

Tobin and Hope still went to the school’s soccer games. They stayed in the shadows of course, but they were there for the whole 90 minutes plus stoppage time. Today was no different. The girls had made it to the finals. It would be Diamond Bar vs. Rowland High.

From the very beginning of the game, it was intense and very physical. The opposing team had height in the mid-field and won most of the 50/50 balls. The forwards for DB for forced to sink in a little bit to help on defense, as opposed to putting pressure on the back line. Tobin could see that Alex was very frustrated with the lack of service she was getting up top and Hope could see in Kelley that the defender was tired of the constant pressure from Rowland’s offense.

In the 13th minute, a suspect tackle from Ali left Ashlyn vulnerable to a PK. With the captain placing the ball far right, she was unable to reach it and Rowland went up 1-0. It only took minutes for Diamond Bar to earn a set piece. With a cheeky ball that was chipped over the wall by Heather, Sydney was able to place the ball in the back of the net to tie the game.

Every time Rowland went up, Diamond was able to respond. Full time ended with the score being 3-3. It was already the second 15 in extra time and the crowd was beginning to worry that neither team would score and it would go to Pks.

Tobin had faith though. She could feel that Alex was about to do something wonderful. She knew was proven right when Lauren Cheney crossed the ball into the 18 from the corner flag. It soared in the air for what seemed like forever, but then the ball connected with Alex’s head. She put in it right over the keeper’s head and into into the goal with less than 15 seconds left.

The light-haired girl smiled widely and clapped for the girl she was in love with. Tobin was proud of Alex. The girl deserved the win with all the hard work she had put in. She knew the girl was worried about getting recruited, but Tobin always had faith in her. Always.

..

“Are you serious?” Alex asked in disbelief.

“As a heart attack,” the man in front of her laughed. “Your performance today was outstanding and we would love to have you in our program. So what do you say?” What did Alex say to signing with Cal on a full ride? What did she say to going to her mother’s old school, the school she’s been wanting to go to her entire life? Absolutely.

“Absolutely!” She shook his hand, a grin on her face.

“Here’s my card and that’s my number. Be expecting a call from me soon okay?”

“Yes sir,” Alex nodded.

This was possibly the greatest day of her life. She had earned her ring in soccer and her mother and sisters were there to watch her.

Pam had some experimental treatments tried on her and the results were magnificent. Her hair was coming back as well as her strength and weight. She wasn’t so fatigued and even managed to walk on her own for a short distance. She couldn’t come home just yet, but if things progressed, she would before she knew it.

As for Michael well, as far as Alex knew he hadn’t gotten any better. He hadn’t tried to contact her in some time. She didn’t know how he was, but she hoped he was at least okay.

Tobin smiled to herself as she watched the brunette stare at the card and run her finger pads over it. She contemplated on if she should go over to her or not. Did Alex even want to see her? This is would be one of the few times that she would get some alone time with her without her guard dogs around her.

Fuck it, she had to talk to her. It had been too long.

“Congratulations,” she said. The forward looked up at her with wide eyes. “I always knew you could do it. I’m really proud of you,” Tobin said sincerely.

“Thank you. I didn’t know you came.” Alex really didn’t know how to handle this situation. She was feeling a lot of emotions from the victory, and now seeing Tobin was bringing back feelings she was trying to suppress.

“I haven’t missed a game.”

“Oh.” Alex was unaware that Tobin had still been coming to her games.

“I just wanted to tell you that you played great out there…You always do.”

“Thank you.”

The conversation was at a halt. Clearly Alex wasn’t going to say anything and Tobin wasn’t sure what she should next, but she certainly had a lot to say.

“Well if you don’t have anything else to say, I’m going to find my teammate’s…”

“Wait. I-” Tobin took a deep breath. This was not easy. For weeks she had been trying to get Alex alone, but now that she had her alone, she didn’t know what to do. “I need you to know the truth Alex. You need to know that that conversation didn’t go the way it sounded on the intercom.”

“I know.”

“You know?” The girl nodded. How did she know. Servando couldn’t have told her the truth about things. No, she might as well mark his name off of the list. “I was given the tape of the real conversation,” she explained.

“By who?”

“Does it matter?” Tobin guessed it didn’t.

“What we had was real Alex. I am in love with you okay? I fell in love with you the moment I laid eyes on you, but I didn’t know it. And these last few weeks have been the worst days of my life because I hurt the one person who knows the real me and still loved me. I-”

“Tobin can we not do this now?”

“Do what Alex? This is the first time I’ve been able to talk to you alone in over two weeks. If not now then when?” She tried not to be frustrated she really did.

“I don’t know.” Tobin had to remind herself that things wouldn’t get better over night. It was a process..

“I’m sorry Alex. For everything,” she sighed. Out of the corner of her eye she saw Christen and Sydney walking towards them. “Enjoy your win. You deserved it.”

With that, she walked away. The further Tobin got away from Alex, the closer Christen and Sydney got to her. They glared at her retreating figure.

“What the hell did she want?”

“She just wanted to congratulate me on the win. Don’t worry about it guys. Come on let’s eat and celebrate.”

“Woohoo partay! Let’s do this,” Heather exclaimed running like a wildwoman past them. They all chuckled at her antics.

Alex knew she would have to talk to Tobin eventually. The girl deserved to be listen to at the least, but for right now, she just wanted to enjoy the win and have some fun with her friends. She hadn’t had fun in a long time.

..

Seniors were finally done with school. It was the longest ten months of her life, but Tobin couldn’t have been happier to be out of school. She felt like a weight had been taken off of her shoulders. She was actually going to graduate. She wasn’t expected to do that, let alone pass one class.

It was because of Alex. The girl had turned her life around and actually gave her a chance to have a promising future. She owed Alex everything..

Alex..

Tobin still hadn’t had a full conversation with her. Her guard dogs were on patrol always. And whenever she did see an opportunity, Alex ran away from her. The more time passed without Alex, the more she was losing faith in just about everything. She was depressed, there was just no other way to put it.

When graduation day came, Tobin and Hope were panicked but excited. Thank goodness Perry and Katie already had clothes for them to wear or else they would have shown up with jeans and t-shirts.

For Tobin, she wore black dress pants with a fitted black dress shirt and a grey pinstripe vest. Hope had on black dress pants well, with a white dress sure and skinny black. On their feet, suede oxford shoes. Grey with a yellow platform for Tobin, for Hope navy blue with a cerulean platform.

“Aww you two are all grown up!” Katie squealed. “We have to take pictures!”

“Sis, pictures won’t be necessary. And if we don’t hurry, we are going to be late,” Tobin said. Anything to get them to stop looking at them like they were toddlers.

“Oh hush, you have plenty of time before you have to be there. Plus we are stopping by to see mom and dad,” Perry told her.

“Who is? Not I. Hope you can go with them if you want to, but I’m not going.”

“Yeah right, she’s not my mother,” the green-eyed girl scoffed. At one point in time, Hope saw Cindy as a mother and the woman treated her like a daughter, but that all changed when Tobin came out years ago. She wasn’t holding a grudge or anything, but she honestly didn’t want to be in the middle of a family battle.

“They’re coming to your graduation you know.”

“Great well I’ll pretend to act surprised when I see them.”

“Tobin please. They really want to see you.”

Tobin looked at her best friend. The girl only shrugged. Technically she and her mother made up. No not made up, but talked things out. Either way that didn’t mean she was going to start just popping up unexpectedly for milk and cookies.

Just wait for it, she thought. Her sisters had mastered the art of persuasion.

“You’re going Tobin, there’s no way out of it.” There is was.

God arguing with her sisters might have been arguing with Alex. She always lost.

“On one condition: I ride my bike over there,” she demanded.

“Fine, but we’ll just have to redo your hair when we get there.”

“I’ll take that.” She looked to Hope. “I guess I’ll see you there dude.”

“Yeah man. Ride safe alright?”

“Of course,” Tobin pulled her into a bro hug. “Let’s go Perry, Katie. I want to get this over with so I can get my diploma.” The two older sisters rolled their eyes at the youngest Heath. Katie went over to Hope and hugged her, Perry following her actions.

“Bye Hope,” they said in unison.

“See ya ladies.”

Okay so being around her mother and father wasn’t as bad as she had anticipated. Deep down, way deep down, she actually missed them a little. She would never say it out loud though. Nope, you couldn’t pay her.

“Thank you for coming Tobin. We’ve missed you so much and can’t wait to see you walk across the stage.” She gave her mother a small smile.

“Okay Tobs no more stalling. Picture time.” She groaned loudly.

..

Holy shit I can’t do this. I thought I could be I can’t. There’s too many people out there and they all hate me. This was a bad idea. This was a very very very very very bad idea.

“High school is a time where you learn a lot about yourself. They can either be the best four years of your life, or the worst. You find out who your friends are, you find out who you are, and you find out who you want to be….”

I don’t want to embarrass her. If I do this, she might just hate me more.

“As teenagers we make a lot of mistakes. Some we learn from, some we don’t…”

That’s it. Abort mission Tobin, abort mission.

“We all deserve second chances and I believe high school shows us what we need to see so that we can use that second chance in the right way. There’s been a lot of drama surrounding a certain group of students at our school, and all of you seem to be fascinated by them. I have one person in particular that is back stage and would like to talk to you. She’s made mistakes herself, and like everyone of you here, she also deserves a second chance no matter what you think of her.”

Oh no

“Tobin? Would you please come up here?” She took a deep breath. It was now or never.

She could already hear a few students booing her as she made herself visible to the crowd. That was too be expected. She was public enemy number one. Was it her or had the crowd doubled in size since she had walked behind the curtains?

Alex.

God she looked beautiful in purple gown. Focus.

“Um..” Wow she hadn’t realized she put her mouth so close to the microphone. And um? What a horrible way to start off a speech. “Most of you probably already know who I am, but for those of you that don’t, my name is Tobin Heath and I haven’t been the best person in recent years.”

“That’s an understatement!” a student yells out. They were laughing at her. Tobin saw as a teacher tried to quiet the students in the section. She pressed on anyway.

“You’re right actually. I’ve been a real piece of shit the last couple of years. I’ve slept around, I’ve been drunk more times than the number of hairs on my head, and I’ve done really petty things like vandalism and theft. I left my past influence my present and decide what would have been my future. I was on a road to nowhere until I met the most amazing person. She was smart, talented, and crazy beautiful, inside and out, among so many other things. This girl gave me a huge reality check.

“I’ve never known anyone so caring and down to earth. Her spirit can light up an entire building. She has a smile that can end wars. And her heart…well that’s the best thing about her. What’s most attractive about her isn’t her body, or the fact that she’s amazing in soccer; It’s her heart. She has the biggest heart

“And I fell in love with her.” She could hear a collective gasp from a few people. “I know you all believe that I person like me would never fall in love, but it’s true. I know what love is because of Alex Morgan.” Tobin looked the love of her life directly in the eye. “She is the very best part of me. She brings out a person in me that I didn’t even know existed. She makes me feel that I’m not as bad of a person as I think I am. She is patient with me and she is kind, and that’s what love is.. But more important than any other thing is that she believed in me. I would not be at this graduation if it weren’t for her.

“I’ve hurt the only person who really knew me, and I will forever be sorry for every second of pain that I caused her. I will spend the rest of my days making it up to her if she’ll let me. A wise man once told me, 'You never give up on the ones that you love. You fight and you keep fighting. Make things right or die trying,’

“I’m asking for my second chance right now with all of you. And before you make your decisions, I want to apologize to any person that I’ve ever made fun of, or used, or hurt in any way…except for you Servando, I hate you.” The boy tossed up a middle finger at her. Everyone chuckled.

“Alright Tobin wrap it up,” her principal told her with his arms folded.

“Alex, I love you. And I would love it if I could talk to you.”

And with that, Tobin stepped away from the mic. She was shaking from all the nerves coursing inside her. She couldn’t believe she had just done that.

..

She didn’t know what to think of Tobin’s speech. All she knew was that the girl had confessed her love for her in front of the entire town and it was the most beautiful thing anyone has ever done for her.

The calling out of names was all a blur to her. She wasn’t even sure she was awake when everyone through their caps in the air. Her mind was still stuck on Tobin and the speech. Alex wasn’t blind and she was done running away from her true feelings. She knew sincerity when she saw it and she knew with all her heart that Tobin loved her. And she loved Tobin. It hurt, what Tobin did, but it hurt even more being without the girl.

“Alex we’re officially high school gra!- where are you going?” Christen asked in confusion.

“Isn’t it obvious? She’s going to find Tobin,” Lauren said as she watched the girl speed-tiptoe in her heels and weave through the crowd of students.

“But she hurt her..”

“Love forgives Pressy. And boy do they love each other.”

Alex finds the girl with her back to her, talking to Hope. The green-eyed girl makes sees her rushing towards them and smiles a genuine smile.

“I’m going to go find- oof!” Tobin’s words caught in her throat as a body collided into hers. Not hard enough to make her fall down, but just enough to make her throw out a string of apologies to… “Alex.”

“Hi,” the soccer player breathed.

“Alex I’m sorry. I know I hurt you and I know the truth or me making a speech won’t take that away, but-”

“Shh..” the forward silenced her with her forefinger. “I know you’re sorry.” She could see it in her eyes. “I know okay? But right now all I want you to do is kiss me.”

She didn’t have to ask Tobin twice. She never had to ask Tobin twice. The light-haired girl swiftly wrapped her arm around the brunette’s waist and pulled close, her lips meeting the Alex’s with such force and passion. She tried to show her how sorry she was, how much she meant to her, and how much she loved her in that one kiss and Alex felt it all.


	21. Epilouge

The moment Alex forgave Tobin was the moment she was whole again.

She’d spent so many days weeping, wanting to hurt herself, wanting to drink her life away, wanting to go back to her old self. As self centered as it sounded, she was the one she hurt the most out of everyone. Watching Alex break down, become lifeless at her hands? Well she’d rather have been slapped in the face like Hope did.

The capacity of Alex’s heart never failed to amaze her. Tobin felt like she didn’t even deserve to know the soccer player and yet here she was not only loving the once troublesome teen, but forgiving her time and time again, while dealing with family issues of her own and remaining positive. In her eyes, Alex Morgan was a saint. And she swore to herself and on everything that she’d never be this stupid again.

“Alex?” Tobin asked the beautiful brunette beside her.

They were at the beach, sitting in the sand. There was a graduation party tonight, but neither were in the mood to be around intoxicated teenagers. Too much time was spent apart as it was. Now? Now they just wanted to be alone. Be close to each other.

“Yes?” The blue eyed girl asked back. Her eyes were fixed on the sunset, but hearing the nervousness in Tobin’s tone, she looked up. She squeezed the girl’s now clammy hand, forcing her to look her in the eye.

“I’m sorry.” There was nothing but sincerity in her voice and facial expression.

“I know.”

“After we got to know each other, you’re the last person I ever wanted to hurt.”

“I know.”

“It’ll take some time to get back to the way we were. I know that. I can’t possibly expect you to let me back in completely after what I’ve done. But I’m willing to wait as long as it takes.”

“I know.”

A silence passed between them. To one heart was beating a million times a minute, the staring contest they were having getting the better of her. Every part of her was on edge, afraid that if she made one wrong move, Alex would be gone again. Even with the soft expression she was receiving and the comfort of the soccer player’s hand in hers, she still felt like she was on eggshells. That’s how much the guilt was still eating at her.

“Every was moment was real,” she choked out as a single tear slid down her face. God, she was so ashamed. Tobin sneezed her eyes tight, willing herself not to fall apart.

“Tobin.”

The honey eyed girl now had her head in her hands, knees pulled to her chest. She was trying, really she was, to stop the waterworks. “Never again,” she mumbled to herself. “I’m so sorry.” It was barely audible or coherent, but Alex understood one hundred percent.  
Tears started to fall down her cheeks as she rubber the girl’ back. Tobin was always best at showing sincerity through actions and expressions, and in that moment, Alex was certain that Tobin loved her more than anyone ever could. It made her heart burst.

“Tobin,” her raspy voice came again. The girl was still in her shell, but her breathing had slowed, a sign that she was calming down.

Alex grabbed her hand and slowly pulled it away from her body. Reluctantly, the girl uncoiled, but she still refused to look at the soccer player.

“Toby.” The light-haired girl finally looked up. “I know, okay? I know. And I love you. So right now, just be with me. Please.”

She nodded, wrapping her arms around the love of her life. They laid back into the sand, Tobin looking up into the stars while Alex snuggled closer and closed her eyes.

“Why did you do it?”

“I don’t know.”

“You don’t know?” the forward asked incredulously.

Tobin sighed, sitting up. “I guess I did it because it was a challenge. Hope and I are competitive and at the time the worst thing that could happen to me was losing a bet to her. You were this hot new girl who didn’t put up with my bullshit and I wanted to prove myself. It was dumb, it was selfish, and I never thought ahead more than five minutes. I had never anticipated you finding out or falling in love with you, or you getting hurt. I’m sorry Alex.”

The forward didn’t reply. Tobin guessed she was thinking about where they would go from here. How they could move past this. She wished she could take a glimpse inside the girl’s mind.

Thirty minutes in, the mental exhaustion was beginning to take over. The soccer player was already sound asleep and Tobin didn’t have the heart to wake her so she picked her up bridal style, much like she had the first time they came here together. It was only a short walk to her sister’s house.

Tobin laid her down in the bed. She contemplated pulling her dress off, but she decide Alex wouldn’t mind too much that she was still in her clothes in the morning. It would be too much trouble to try to get the sleeping girl into some nightwear. The former badass, however, wanted to get out of her dress clothes.

She first takes off her vest and folds it neatly. Then she works on her buttons of her Oxford.

Tobin looks up at her reflection through her sister’s vanity mirror. Her eyes are bloodshot, partly due to crying, the other part due to the lack of sleep over the past weeks. She runs her hand through her hair and and then over her face.

“Tobin?” The girl turns around to find Alex slowly walked towards her. The soccer player spins so her back is to her. “Can you unzip me?”

“I didn’t know you were awake, I’m sorry,” she apologized, pulling the zipper down.

“Barely,” Alex yawns. “But I want to get out of this tight dress. I can hardly breathe…”

“I’m not complaining,” she murmurs as she watches the fabric fall slowly from her girlfriend’s tight body. Her breath catches in her throat.

Alex only gently nudges her to the side as she opens one of the drawers and pulls out a large t-shirt.

“You can look Toby…but no touching.” Yeah that was fair. She’d have to earn that right again. Nothing but cuddling and hand holding with the occasional kiss. She could deal with that.

..

“Kelley.”

“No.”

Hope groaned, reaching out to grab Kelley’s hand. The defender yanked it away instantly. The taller girl holds her hands up in surrender, indicating she wouldn’t try anything again.

“You didn’t think it would be that easy did you?”

She hesitated. “Maybe a little…” She dragged, but upon noticing the look on the freckled girl’s face, she backpedaled, “I mean no, of course not.” The defender scoffed, walking off. Hope followed the mad girl through the crowd of intoxicated teenagers.

“Hey Kelley since you’re off the market, how’s about you and me take this upstairs?” One guy said purposely as the green-eyed girl walked back.

Her eyes followed Kelley through the door connecting the living room to the kitchen before she stopped. The girl then walked backwards to the smirking football player, who had his arms folded like he had won battle. Hope stared him down. Kneed him in his family jewels. Took his beer. Poured it on his head. And then she continued on after Kelley.

She came into the kitchen just in time to see the defender make eye contact with Lauren before walking out the back door. Abby and Ashlyn formed a wall, both of their arms folded across their chests. Whereas the captain had a blank stone face, the keeper donned an expression that only said one thing, ‘I want to kill you’.

“If you haven’t figured out already, she doesn’t want to talk to you,” the midfielder told her.

“Yeah no shit, Curly. Get out of the way.”

Ashlyn scoffed out a laugh. “You’re really going to try to go through us?”

Hope looked past the mother figure of the group to the two girls. She was doing the math in her head. Ashlyn was the same height as her, but Abby had her by two inches. She was fit, but so were they. Plus there was two of them against one, with the high chance that any of the other girls would step in and add their own kicks or hair pulls. That could leave it two, four, five…that could potentially leave it at eight against one. Man she wished these girls didn’t move in packs.

“Fine, have it your way.” The girls braced themselves, but instead of moving to attack like they thought she would, Hope was moving backwards.

“Yo Hope!” a tipsy boy nearly shouted in her ear as he burst onto the scene. She’d played with him before, but for the life of her couldn’t remember his name. “Oh there you are. Hey I need a beer pong buddy. You’re one of the best ones here.”

A plan was forming in her mind as a small smirk made itself present on her face.

“I’ll take you up on that offer. They don’t call my Hope Solo-cup for nothin’,” she spoke as she grabbed a drink and downed it quickly. It was Dr. Pepper. She hadn’t come here to get wasted, plus she had to drive.

“That’s my girl!” He cheered as he slung an arm around her shoulder.

“Don’t touch me.”

Once the green-eyed girl was gone, the soccer players looked around at each other in confusion. That was it? They were even more right about Hope than they thought if she was just going to ditch going after Kelley to get wasted.

“Something is wrong with that girl. The both of them really,” Ashlyn mumbled, referring to Tobin as well.

..

Kelley frowned as she took in the information her friends had given her. Hope just left all together to go play beer pong with some guy? That didn’t sound like her Hope at all. And to be quite honest she thought she deserved to be fought for just a little harder than that. Hope had never cared about her friends disliking her or whatnot.

The truth was the defender just wanted to see how hard she would work for it. Sure she was still angry. When everything started she was livid. Hope had not only lied to her, but she had caused her best friend so much pain. The forward put up a strong front, but no one was there when she collapsed in Kelley’s arms. No one was there when she had to force Alex to eat. No one knew that the forward cried herself to sleep.

But even after everything that happened, Alex found a way to forgive Tobin because she knew she was sorry and she loved her. Kelley knew that Hope loved her and she would find it in her heart to forgive the girl as well.

Well that was the plan, but apparently Hope had given up.

She would too then.

“Honestly though, like isn’t this is a good thing? Hope is an asshole who never deserved you in the first place Kelley,” Ashlyn huffed.

“I hate to seem like a girl, because I know you’re upset and all, but Ash is right. You can’t dwell on her anymore. How long would you have lasted anyway after this summer? You’re going to Stanford on a soccer scholarship. She…well, she couldn’t have gone with you, you know? Stanford is six hours from here. That’s far,” Sydney pointed out.

Kelley was hurt by her friends words. She knew they meant well, but they were being a bit insensitive. Love was more complex than just black and white. The grey area was huge and meant for stuff just like they mentioned. This wasn’t something she could just get over.

“And another thing-”

“Ash enough,” Ali scolded, noticing the crestfallen face of her fellow defender. “You’re not helping.”

“I think I’m just going to go home,” Kelley muttered quietly as she stood up.

“Kell-”

“You guys enjoy the rest of the party okay? Suddenly I’m not feeling too well. Don’t worry about me, I’ll talk to you guys tomorrow.”

The small teenager stood up from the tire swing she sat on and walked over to the fence. She would have gone through the house like a normal person, but she didn’t want to run into Hope.

..

clack

Kelley awoke from her light sleep at the sound. Noises like that weren’t common at her house. Something sounded like it was coming from her balcony doors but she couldn’t be sure. Was she imagining things?

clack

Okay now she definitely wasn’t imagining that. She wasn’t imagining the voices either. The defender pinched herself just to make sure she was, in fact, awake.

Yup she definitely was. Fear was starting to keep up inside her as she slowly slid out of bed Someone was probably here to kill her family. Or worse, they already got her family and she was next.

clack

Kelley reached over to her nightstand and grabbed the closest thing she could. Her lamp. Slowly she tiptoed over to her balcony doors and hid behind the wall. She took a deep breath, before yanking the door open.

“Kelley,” a voice whispered.

The freckled girl 'eek’d’ while chunking the appliance out of the doors. She heard a loud thud and an even louder 'Aww fuck!’. The girl smiled triumphantly, feeling somewhat like a hero.

“That’s what you get, trespasser,” she mumbled as she slowly peaked her head outside to see who she had hit, or if the criminal was still in her backyard at all.

What she saw was a familiar brunette with a green eyes and a bleeding forehead. She had a pained expression on her face as she clutched her noggin.

“Hope?! What the heck are you doing in my backyard?”

“What the heck are you doing throwing lamps out your bedroom?!” The girl asked back. “That really hurt, Kell.”

“Sorry,” the small girl said unapologetic, but deep down she really was. It was an accident, but she was sure that somewhere this qualified as domestic abuse. “Explain.”

Hope fumbled around with her words, not exactly knowing what to do. It was almost a mini tantrum as she talked to herself and paced with no direction. She stopped, opening her mouth before closing it again and pacing. Kelley found it all very amusing.

The antsy girl took a deep breath. “Okay so at the party I had this idea right? Like I don’t know, your body guards wouldn’t let me see you and I thought about fighting my way through but I was greatly outnumbered. Anyways, it just came to me. Tobin and I were watching this lame 80’s movie one day where this weird nerd kid did this thing and got the girl so I was like, boom. I’m gonna do that. So immediately after I left them I went to an electronics store and I tried to look for a boombox, but apparently they don’t even really make those anymore. So I ended up buying this thing,” the brunette held up a small Bluetooth speaker. “I had this whole plan, but then you threw the lamp, and now I’m bleeding and my head hurts and you just really threw me off my game.”

Hope stopped talking to take a deep breath.

“Here just listen okay,” she spoke again before Kelley could even get a word out. The tall girl held up the speaker in her left hand while tinkering with her phone in her right.

Baby, won’t you come my waay  
Got something I want to saay  
Cannot keep you out my br-

“Fuck,” Hope cursed. “That wasn’t the song, I swear. I may have thrown my phone at a wall a couple of days ago and it hasn’t been right ever since.” She tried to press buttons on her phone, but the thing was malfunctioning.

Cause baby now we got baad bloood  
You know it use to be maad loove  
So take a look at what you’ve doone  
Cause baby now we-

Hope groaned loudly, getting very mad a frustrated. After trying to get her phone to work again, she only seemed to be making things worse.

“You know what, forget it.”

She throws down the devices and in five long stops she’s at the base of Kelley’s house. She climbs up the lattice, coming level with Kelley on her balcony. Karen would be upset about the plants she was stepping on, but she would have to get over it. She reaches out trying to step on a section of the balcony, almost losing her footing.

The girl manages to grab the railing with both hands to steady herself, but she was still dangling for the most part. Her head was barely above the ledge.

“I was stupid Kelley. I know that. It was wrong of me to suggest betting on Alex and I know I’m just as much to blame as Tobin for all of this. I never meant to hurt you or Alex. I made a mistake, but I’m willing to do whatever it takes. I can’t stand you being mad at me and avoiding me. You were not only my girlfriend, but you were my best friend. I wish we had never done what we did. I wish I could take it all back. I liked you way before all of this went down. I liked you since the first time we had class together in the ninth grade when you laughed at all my stupid comments about the reproductive system. I-” Hope didn’t get a chance to finish because Kelley’s lips were on hers.

They both melted into the kiss, lips moving in perfect synchronization. Hope would have wrapped her arms around the girl, but they were busy at the moment. Kelley cupped the green eyed girl’s face with both hands.

“Wait so you forgive me?”

“Yes, Hope,” the girl answered, pecking her lips once, twice, and then a third time.

Hope tried to move closer, but they only made her situation worse. There was concrete beneath her and that was at least a 15 foot drop. She could land on both feet, but not without breaking both ankles and probably tearing something in her knees.

“Hey Kell?”

“Hmm?”

“I’m about to fall.”

The defender tried to pull her up, but that turned out to be useless. Instead she just let her go completely so she could balance herself. Hope let out a huff as she steadied herself back on the lattice. She smiled widely at Kelley, muttering a 'close one’. She spoke too soon however. The fixture broke away from the brick wall under her weight and then Hope found herself free falling backwards.

The two girls looked at each other, helpless.

splash

Hope resurfaced, spitting water from her mouth. Thank goodness Kelley had a pool or else that would have really hurt. She looks up at the girl to find clutching her stomach, laughing her ass off. She herself tried to maintain a straight face to give the impression that she was less than amused at her dismay, but in reality it was pretty damn funny. She laughed along with the girl.

“What are Earth is going on out here?” Dan shouted, coming out with a bat and Karen hot on his tail. She armed herself with a tennis racket.

They both took in their surroundings, mouths dropped to the ground.

“Hope? Didn’t I tell you not to step foot near this house again?” It was true. He almost went as far as to getting restraining orders, but Kelley convinced him that it wasn’t that serious.

“My plants!” There it was.

Hope didn’t know what to do except remove herself from the pool.

“Leave. Now.”

“Yes sir,” she mumbled, picking up her phone and the speaker that was now softly playing some fifth harmony song.

On her way towards the fence, she takes a risky glance up at Kelley. The girl smiles at her and mouths an 'I’ll call you later.’ The smirk never left her face as she hopped the fence once more.

..

While getting their girl’s back was a difficult process, getting their friends to not burn holes in their faces when they came around was even harder. Hope and Tobin didn’t blame them of course. Deep down inside they still hated themselves a little. The only ones really trying were Ali and Lauren, but even then, the curly haired girl watched their every moves.

Kelley’s parents eventually came around to forgiving Hope again, but it took nearly the whole summer. Dan promised Hope that he would the last face she ever saw if she ever did something like that again. As for Karen, well she made Hope fix her lattice and buy her new plants and seeds.

Patricia was getting better and better everyday. Michael had cleaned himself up for his wife and apologized to Alex for all that he had done. The soccer player forgave him of course, because that’s the type of person she was, but she didn’t allow him around her mother unless she was there.

Jeri and Jen were ready to kill Tobin after everything that had happened and Hope for that matter. They had become even more protective of Alex since then. Tobin again completely understood.

“Toby?” Alex asked as they sat across from each other at a booth at Pizza Hut. Tobin stopped what she was doing, which was stuffing her face with cinnamon sticks.

“Yeah?” the girl asked back, her mouth full.

“What are we going to do about the fall?” It was something they had never discussed. Their relationship was focused more on the present rather than what the future held for them. It least now that’s what they focused on after the events of their senior year.

Instead of answering, the former badass pulled out her phone. She swiped and scrolled and swiped once more, focusing so hard that her eyebrows creased. Alex didn’t know whether to be offended for being ignored, or if she should just be patient.

The iPhone face down in front of the blue-eyed girl.

“I have something to show you, but before that I want to tell you something.”

“Okay?” Alex said confused.

“Back before I got kicked out, I was a pretty good student in school. Not all A’s but A’s and B’s with the occasional C. In the ninth grade I took the SAT and ACT. I did extremely well on both. I can’t remember what exactly I got, but it was enough to qualify for any scholarship. My parents were so proud that they took me out to eat, though that is completely irrelevant. Anyways fast forward to the following years. Perry and Katie wouldn’t let either of our grades get bad. Of course we failed a bit, but we always passed enough to not get held back. They made us fill out at least five college applications last year. They even made us do some scholarships, even if college was never in our plans…”

“I’m not following.” Tobin smiled.

“Turn the phone over.”

Alex did as she was told, carefully reading the text. Tobin’s smile widened as she saw realization flash across her beautiful girl’s face.

“You got accepted to Berkeley?” she asked in barely above a whisper.

“I talked to my parents. Some of my family has gone there so they might have been able to pull some strings since I haven’t been the best student or person in past years. We agreed that as long as I had a job they would help me pay for school,” Tobin told her happily.

Tobin actually didn’t know she had gotten accepted into any college and had all but forgotten she applied to any as well. One day she randomly decided to go through her email, which she also forgot she had, and she discovered several important notices. Since then Tobin had been waiting to surprise the forward.

The soccer player practically leaps across the table as she reached over to hug her tightly. “I’m so proud of you, Toby. You have no idea how happy I am right now.”

Tobin did have an idea though. It was the way she felt every time she was with Alex.

..

“I can’t believe we’re going to college,” Kelley sighed as she laid her head on Alex’s shoulder.

They had decided to meet up at the Target parking lot early in the morning. It had come time for them to head off to college.Tobin and Alex would be going to Berkeley, Kelley to Stanford. No Hope wasn’t necessarily Stanford material, but she’d follow the small freckled girl anywhere. That’s why she chose the school closest to her. It was exactly 7.3 miles from her and they would be sharing an apartment.

They decided to meet in a Target parking lot early in the morning. All four of them had a lot

“I know, its crazy. We’re going our separate ways…”

“You better not replace me, Morgan.”

“Same goes for you, O'Hara.”

While the two soccer stars made small talk, Hope and Tobin were separately walking in circles. Every once in a while, one would pause and look at the other, then they would go back to pacing. Neither said a word and had frowns on their faces. They weren’t good at this goodbye stuff. They had been friends since they could remember and now they had to part.

“They always have to be hardasses,” Alex chuckled.

Fifteen minutes later it was time for them to hit the road. Kelley and Alex hugged each other tightly. The forward then went over to Hope and gave her a squeeze, the defender doing the same to Tobin.

When it was time for the former badasses to hug each other, neither one could bring themselves to do it. They just stood awkwardly in front of each other, rocking back and forth on their heels.

“Come on you two, say goodbye so we can get going,” Kelley rushed them.

Tobin let out a shaky breath. “Guess this is it, huh?”

“Yup,” Hope nodded.

The shorter girl looked up at her best friend with big light brown eyes. Her bottom lip started trembling.

“Don’t you do it, Tobin,” Hope warned, her eyes beginning to water. “Don’t you dare.” The light haired girl bit her bottom lip hard, to try to control herself but it didn’t work. Tears were beginning to form.

Cry on the inside like a winner Tobin.

In a swift motion they basically jumped on each other as they hugged tightly. Tobin was latched onto Hope like a koala to a tree.

“I’m gonna miss you, asshole,” the girl choked out.

“I’m gonna miss you too, dipshit,” the dark-haired brunette cried.

“We’re only an hour away from each other, we can make that work can’t we?”

“We’ll call and text and Skype everyday, okay? Nothing will change.”

After aww’s from Kelley and Alex, and one final group hug, the four friends took off.

There are some people that you meet that aren’t meant to be in your lives forever, and then there were others that you’d never forget for a lifetime. No matter where they went in life, they would always be in each other’s hearts.


End file.
